STS-217
| STS-217 | |||||
Mission insignia | |||||
| Mission statistics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission name | STS-217 | ||||
| Space shuttle | Horizon | ||||
| Launch pad | Kennedy LC-39C | ||||
| Launch date | 24 April, 2017 | ||||
| Landing | 8 May, 2017 | ||||
| Orbital period | 97 min | ||||
| Orbital altitude | 600 kilometers (373 miles) | ||||
| Orbital inclination | 28.5° | ||||
| Related missions | |||||
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STS-217, or HST-SM5 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 5), was the sixth space shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) which was flown by Space Shuttle Horizon. Launch occurred on 24 April, 2017 at 12:01 pm EST. Landing occurred successfully on 8 May, 2017 at 10:38 am EST.
The mission carried two new instruments to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Advanced Multi-Object Spectrometer and the Advanced Camera for Surveys 2. The mission also replaced the telescope's main computer, a Fine Guidance Sensor and two battery unit modules. The crew also installed new thermal insulation panels. In conjunction with STS-211, which raised Hubble's orbit to 374 miles (601.9 km), the mission was intended to allow the telescope to continue operating until at least 2022.
Crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Roger Mason Fourth spaceflight | |
| Pilot | Sarah Engels Fourth spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 1 | Sandra Harris Second spaceflight EV3 | |
| Mission Specialist 2 | Yuma Tazuka Fourth spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 3 | Ehud Shalom,  IsraelThird spaceflight Lead spacewalker, EV1 | |
| Mission Specialist 4 | Sonya Alvarez Third spaceflight EV2 | |
| Mission Specialist 5 | Ricky L. Wilson First spaceflight EV4 | |
Mission history
Following STS-125 and the subsequent retirement of the NASA Space Shuttle fleet, no additional flights to the Hubble Telescope were planned. NASA's original end of mission plan for the telescope was to retrieve it using Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-144, however this plan was cancelled following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
The International Space Agency had originally planned to recover the telescope in a mission similar to STS-144, and plans were in work to use a modified Space Shuttle mission in order to return the telescope for display at the National Air and Space Museum in Wikipedia:Washington, D.C. or at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Plans were finalized in 2014 for recovery using a modified version of the Soft Capture Mechanism (SCM) designed to hold the telescope inside of the payload bay during repairs. The modified SCM would have been detachable and discarded, along with the solar arrays. Following a petition from scientists and technicians at the Goddard Space Flight Center, the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and the McGregor Space Center, and due to the increasing complexity of the mission, the numerous modifications required to the Shuttle in order to allow for the mission, and due to safety concerns, ISA managers officially cancelled the Hubble Recovery Mission on August 23, 2014. The crew and Shuttle assigned to the mission were reassigned to STS-217, which was changed to become the fifth servicing flight to the telescope, and the first ISA flight to it in cooperation with NASA.
