NASA Glenn Research Center’s Contributions to the Hubble Space Telescope

April 24, 2025, marked the 35th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which has delivered unprecedented views of the solar system and generated key information on the origins of the universe. Over the years, materials experts from NASA’s Glenn Research Center played an essential role in securing Hubble’s legacy. Shortly after Hubble’s deployment in April 1990, scientists discovered that the dramatic temperature changes associated with the passing in and out of sunlight during orbit caused a problem with the telescope’s pointing system. The temperature cycles caused expansion and contraction of the solar array’s metal poles, or booms, causing the solar arrays to vibrate or “jitter”, which disrupted the telescope’s pointing system. NASA planned a December 1993 servicing mission to Hubble to install new optical equipment, gyroscopes and solar arrays (SA-II). The replacement arrays included metallized Teflon thermal shields covering the solar array booms to combat the temperature cycles. NASA researchers helped with simulated space environment testing of coated and uncoated thermal shields. The testing at Glenn revealed that the coatings planned for use on the thermal shields failed after simulated space exposure. Working with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Glenn team helped to recommend a thermal shield design for the SA-II and after installation the new arrays were successful in stopping the thermal-induced jitter problem. Glenn team members contributed to each of the following four servicing missions. Three members from Glenn served on the HST Multilayer Insulation (MLI) Failure Review Board in 1997 that analyzed retrieved damaged MLI, determined the mechanism of MLI damage on HST, and tested and identified replacement materials. The same three members also served on the HST Handrail FRB. Glenn members also helped with planning the 5th servicing mission and they analyzed two severely degraded MLI blankets retrieved from HST after 19 years of space exposure. This presentation provides an overview of Glenn’s contributions to HST’s five servicing missions.