Custom-made blankets to go to Hubble

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. space agency astronauts will be carrying custom-made blankets when they embark on the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission next August.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission is designed to complete multiple upgrades and repairs to extend the telescope's operational life. One of the mission's many objectives is the refurbishment of the space telescope's outer thermal blankets.

"Thermal blankets are to spacecraft as clothes are to people," said Mike Weiss, Hubble's technical deputy program manager. "Just as clothes cover our skin and help protect us from nature's elements … thermal blankets protect Hubble from the harsh environment of space."

As Hubble orbits Earth it is exposed to both the extreme cold of deep space and the powerful heat of the sun in rapid and constant cycles.

The thermal blankets -- designed to insulate Hubble's equipment from extreme temperature changes -- consist of 16 layers of dimpled aluminum with an outer Teflon skin. The blankets effectively protect onboard instruments against extreme temperature swings even though the blanket is incredibly thin, measuring less than 1-10th of an inch thick when laid flat, NASA said.

Hubble is a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency.