Mark Hess/Jim Cast
  Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                                       
  May 25, 1993
  (Phone:  202/358-1778)
  
  RELEASE:  93-96
  
  HUBBLE SERVICING MISSION STUDY COMPLETED
  
       A task force established by NASA Administrator Daniel 
  S. Goldin to review plans for the Hubble Space Telescope 
  servicing mission concluded that, "the mission is 
  achievable." This conclusion was driven by the fact that the 
  spacecraft and most of its subsystems were designed for 
  on-orbit maintenance.
  
       The Task Force on the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing 
  Mission, chartered in late January, reviewed all aspects of 
  the first servicing mission which is currently scheduled for 
  December 1993. Dr. Joseph F. Shea was Chairman of the task 
  force. 
  
       "We were asked to arrive at a judgement as to the 
  likelihood of success of the repair and servicing mission," 
  said Shea. "In our opinion, we think the mission is 
  achievable."
  
       The task force pointed out, however, that the mission 
  is complex and will require more EVA (spacewalk) time than 
  any mission to date.  Given this complexity, the task force 
  recommended that a second HST servicing mission be planned 6 
  to 12 months after the STS-61 flight to handle tasks that 
  might not be completed during the first mission or respond 
  to failures that occur in the intervening months.
  
       Shea said planning and management changes, which have 
  taken place over the past few months, will improve the 
  likelihood of success. "We support the appointment of a 
  Mission Director, and believe that such a position, with 
  authority and resources, is necessary if the mission is to 
  be carried out with confidence," Shea said.
  
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       The task force report also concluded that a full 
  end-to-end simulation of the EVA in the Neutral Buoyancy 
  Simulator at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, 
  Ala., which is currently in the planning stage, is 
  "essential to a successful mission."
  
       "There are some areas, like schedule, where we still 
  have some concerns," Shea said. "We think the timelines for 
  the EVAs are very tight and some of the hardware is not 
  fully assembled.  But we were very pleased to see that NASA 
  extended the mission duration and the number of EVAs for the 
  flight."
  
                            -end-
  
  NOTE TO EDITORS:  Copies of the report are available from 
  the NASA Headquarters newsroom by calling 202/358-1600.