http://www.stsci.edu/hst/stis/analysis/localNews?display_type=all http://www.stsci.edu/hst/stis/analysis/localNews?display_type=all#HeadlineNews With the completion of the recent Shuttle mission to the ISS, Hubble Servicing Mission 4 (SM4) is now next in line. The planned launch date is October 8. The WFC3, COS, and other hardware elements to be taken to Hubble are in the last stages of testing at Goddard Space Flight Center, and will be shipped to KSC later this summer. The process of training all the staff at JSC, GSFC, and STScI who will participate in the mission is in full swing. This is done via day long simulations of each of the major mission activities, with a simulation team throwing in problems and glitches for the technical, management, and scientific staff to sort through and respond to. The detailed plan for commissioning new instruments, and re-commissioning repaired instruments, after SM4 is also well along. http://www.stsci.edu/hst/stis/analysis/localNews?display_type=all#CosAndWfc3PlacedInFlightEnclosures The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) are now at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where they have undergone brief functional tests. Both instruments have been placed into their protective enclosures, where they will remain until the astronauts remove them during the servicing mission. These protective enclosures are mounted on special carriers that will be placed in the shuttle's payload bay later this month. In addition to the new instruments, the carriers contain numerous items (tools, gyros, batteries, harnesses, transport containers, etc) for other servicing mission activities.<br /> <br /> <img src="/hst/images/wsipe2.jpg"><br /> <br /> <i>Figure caption: Wide Field Camera 3 as it is being lowered into its protective enclosure, the WSIPE (Wide Field Instrument Protective Enclosure). Note the pickoff mirror, which directs light from the HST field of view into the instrument, at the bottom of the photo. The curved portion of the instrument at the top of the photo is a radiator that becomes an integral part of the external surface of the telescope shell after the instrument is installed in Hubble.</i><br /> <br /> The Advanced Camera for Surveys Repair (ACS-R) hardware passed its thermal vacuum testing last week at GSFC and is being prepared for shipment to KSC next week. The thermal vacuum testing indicates that the hardware is flight-ready and that the repair design should meet the primary objective of restoring functionality to the Wide Field Channel (WFC). A rigorous set of tests is being planned for the on-orbit checkout of the repaired camera.