ALIGNMENT FIXTURE FOR KINEMATIC MOUNTS OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS ON HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

摘要

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has revolutionized astronomy since its launch in 1990 and through new instruments in four servicing missions since. A critical design feature that enabled the "fix" in 1993 and several upgrades is the ability to replace science instruments in space. The precise positioning requirements are realized using kinematic latches. This paper describes the design features of an air bearing cylindrical coordinate measuring tool used to locate the eight critical "Points A" locations for HST. This Points A Alignment Fixture (PAAF) was essential during telescope assembly in 1985 to position the kinematic mounts inside Hubble. PAAF was again called upon in 1993 to re-create the as-built flight hardware for the ground-based High Fidelity Mechanical Simulator [1]. The PAAF incorporates several precision engineering aspects to locate the scientific instrument mounts to the micrometer-level.