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Atlantis astronauts install Ball Aerospace's WFC3 and COS aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope

Astronauts for NASA's STS-125 servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) installed two science instruments built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. during their 13-day mission and completed critical repairs to two previously installed Ball science instruments. Space Shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Sunday, May 24.

The Wide Field Camera 3 was installed during the first spacewalk on May 14, and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph was installed on the third spacewalk, on May 16. Wide Field is Hubble's most technologically advanced instrument to take images in the ultraviolet, visible and near infrared portions of the spectrum while COS will help scientists better understand the universe's cosmic web by gathering information from the ultraviolet light from distant objects.

Since 1978 Ball has built seven instruments for HST. In addition to WFC3 and COS they include:

  • Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), installed in 2002
  • Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), installed in 1997
  • Near-infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS), installed in 1997
  • Corrective Optics Space Telescope (COSTAR), installed in 1993 and returned to Earth on May 24, 2009
  • Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS), one of the original science instruments, removed in 1997

"The exceptional work performed by NASA's STS-125 astronauts during the long awaited servicing mission to Hubble is a reminder of what makes the U.S. space program great," said David L. Taylor, president and CEO of Ball Aerospace. "Ball is very proud of its role in extending the life of the Hubble Telescope and making it possible for scientists to add new chapters to our knowledge of the universe."

During the STS-125 mission astronauts made unprecedented on-orbit repairs to the ACS and STIS instruments and also replaced batteries and gyroscopes to extend the life of HST. NASA anticipates that the new HST instruments and repairs will keep Hubble operational until the James Webb Space Telescope joins it on orbit in 2014. As the principal subcontractor for the Webb, Ball Aerospace has been working since 2003 to build the Webb's advanced optical system.