STS-103

STS-103 was the 96th launch of the Space Shuttle and the 27th launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery. This mission helped fix and improve the Hubble Space Telescope. The shuttle took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on December 19, 1999. It landed back on December 27, 1999. The launch was delayed by 13 days because of some problems and bad weather. This made it the only mission to fly after Christmas in the 1990s. This mission was important for keeping the Hubble Space Telescope working well for scientists.

Crew

Space walks

The crew of STS-103 did three space walks to fix and update the Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronauts Smith and Grunsfeld did the first space walk on December 22, 1999. It lasted 8 hours and 15 minutes. Next, Foale and Nicollier did a space walk on December 23. It lasted 8 hours and 10 minutes. Finally, Smith and Grunsfeld did another space walk on December 24. It lasted 8 hours and 8 minutes.

Crew seat assignments

Seat	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck.
1	Brown
2	Kelly
3	Grunsfeld	Foale
4	Clervoy
5	Foale	Grunsfeld
6	Smith
7	Nicollier

Mission highlights

The main goal of STS-103 was to service the Hubble Space Telescope. The crew planned to do four spacewalks to fix and refresh the telescope.

Three of the telescope's gyroscopes had stopped working, so NASA sent a repair mission sooner than planned. Gyroscopes help the telescope point precisely. The crew replaced all six gyroscopes, a sensor, and the telescope's computer. The new computer was faster and had more memory than the old one. They also installed a new transmitter, a spare recorder, and new insulation to help control the telescope's temperature.

The mission carried hundreds of thousands of student signatures into space as part of a special program. This was the last time the Space Shuttle Discovery flew alone; later missions were to the International Space Station. One of the astronauts brought a Planet Mars Flag on board.

Wake-up calls

NASA started a tradition of playing music for astronauts during the Gemini program. This began to wake up the crew of Apollo 15. Each song is chosen especially, often by the astronauts' families. The songs usually have a special meaning for someone on the crew or relate to their work each day.