KSC-2009-2148

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is attached to the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, or COS, still in its shipping container. The crane will remove the COS and place it on a test stand. The COS is part of the payload on space shuttle Atlantis for the Hubble servicing mission, targeted to launch in mid-May. Installing the COS during the mission will effectively restore spectroscopy to Hubble’s scientific arsenal, and at the same time provide the telescope with unique capabilities. COS is designed to study the large-scale structure of the universe and how galaxies, stars and planets formed and evolved. It will help determine how elements needed for life such as carbon and iron first formed and how their abundances have increased over the lifetime of the universe. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller