Hubble Space Telescope at twelve years of age

Abstract

The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery into a 380-mile high Earth orbit on April 25, 1990. It subsequently made outstanding astronomical discoveries with its 8-foot (2.4-meter) telescope and other scientific instruments. Critical to the successful observations was continuous availability of power from its solar arrays during sunlit periods, and from nickel-hydrogen batteries when the satellite was in the Earth's shadow. The adopted nickel-hydrogen batteries were carefully selected and tested to confirm their depth-of-discharge and operating temperature that delivered the longest life in charge/discharge cycling service. These batteries had a design life of 7 years. At 12 years after launch the Hubble batteries have delivered more charge/discharge cycles than any other batteries in low-Earth orbit. However, the Hubble batteries have been subjected to many unexpected stresses, and peculiar reductions in battery capacity have been observed. Battery replacement requires a costly trip to the Hubble Space Telescope by astronauts, so the remaining useful life of the batteries must be predicted. Already in four servicing missions, astronauts have replaced or modified optics, solar arrays, a power control unit, and various science packages. A fifth servicing mission is scheduled in 2004. This paper discusses battery charging hardware and software controls, history of battery events in Hubble, cell performance model and spare battery tests, and capacity walkdown.