Space Foundation Honors Hubble Servicing Mission Team That Extended Life of the Orbiting Observatory

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST), built and integrated at the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) Space Systems facility in Sunnyvale, was launched 20 years ago aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, on April 24, 1990, ushering in a new golden age of astronomy. Five successful servicing missions to the world's premier orbiting observatory were mounted during those two decades.

The final astronaut visit to Hubble in May 2009 was the most difficult, and its spectacular success equipped the telescope with the systems and scientific instruments that will allow it to continue its magnificent exploration of the universe well into the next decade. Last evening, the Space Foundation, at its 26th annual National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, recognized the team that put together that mission and carried it out with their 2010 Space Achievement Award.

"The Hubble Space Telescope Repair Mission was extraordinary on so many levels," said Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham. "The foresight to attempt repairs rather than scrap the investment in the original telescope, the complexity and difficulty of the in-space maneuvers, the stunning visual images of the spacewalks transmitted from space, and an outcome that extended the life of this marvelous portal into the universe - all add up to an unmatched technological achievement." 

The Hubble Space Telescope Repair Mission was a cooperative effort of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the STS-125 crew, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., ATK, Lockheed Martin, and the Space Telescope Science Institute.

"We are enormously proud to be a part of the Hubble Space Telescope team, and working side-by-side with our NASA colleagues and others in the contactor community is a genuine pleasure. This recognition from the Space Foundation is doubly joyful as we are about to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this incredible observatory," said Jim Crocker, vice president of Sensing & Exploration Systems at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "As a company, we strive for operational excellence, and the SM4 servicing mission is a perfect example of how accountability, commitment, communication and teamwork will lead to mission success in even the most difficult of endeavors."

The Lockheed Martin Hubble servicing mission team included individuals from Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services and was responsible for:

• Spacecraft Systems Engineering and Design Integration
• Payload Integration and Test at GSFC and Kennedy Space Center
• Astronaut Training Support
• Replacement Satellite Hardware Design and Development
• Space Shuttle Support Equipment Design and Development
• Spacecraft Mission Operations and Control
• Ground Software
• Spacecraft Flight Software
• Servicing Mission Planning and Timeline Development.

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. manages the HST program for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters. Since the 1990 launch, under contract to NASA, Lockheed Martin personnel in Sunnyvale, Calif., Denver, Colo. and at GSFC have helped manage the day-to-day spacecraft operations of the telescope, and provided extensive preparation and training for the telescope servicing missions. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md. selects observing programs from numerous proposals and analyzes, archives and disseminates incoming astronomical data.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC). LMSSC, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs and develops, tests, manufactures and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for national security and military, civil government and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; ballistic missiles; missile defense systems; and nanotechnology research and development.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2009 sales of $45.2 billion.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin