Seven astronauts blasted off on the space shuttle Atlantis on Monday for one last flight to the Hubble Space Telescope — an extraordinarily ambitious mission that NASA hopes will lift the celebrated observatory to new scientific heights.
The six men and one woman who will attempt the complicated, riskier-than-usual job shouted, waved and raised their fists as they headed out to the pad, eager to get going after waiting seven months to fly. Their flight was delayed last fall, two weeks before the scheduled launch, after the orbiting telescope broke down.
The 19-year-old Hubble, last visited by astronauts seven years ago, is way overdue for a tuneup.
In this fifth and final repair mission, two spacewalking teams will replace Hubble's batteries and gyroscopes, install two new cameras and take a crack at fixing two broken science instruments, something never before attempted. Those instruments, loaded with bolts and fasteners, were not designed to be tinkered with in space.
Endeavour, the rescue ship, is ready to lift off within a week if necessary to save Atlantis' crew.
The six men and one woman who will attempt the complicated, riskier-than-usual job shouted, waved and raised their fists as they headed out to the pad, eager to get going after waiting seven months to fly. Their flight was delayed last fall, two weeks before the scheduled launch, after the orbiting telescope broke down.
The 19-year-old Hubble, last visited by astronauts seven years ago, is way overdue for a tuneup.
In this fifth and final repair mission, two spacewalking teams will replace Hubble's batteries and gyroscopes, install two new cameras and take a crack at fixing two broken science instruments, something never before attempted. Those instruments, loaded with bolts and fasteners, were not designed to be tinkered with in space.
Endeavour, the rescue ship, is ready to lift off within a week if necessary to save Atlantis' crew.
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- Future_America
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The amount of skill and mental strength necessary to perform on such dangerous tasks is amazing. Best of luck to the seven astronaut crew on shuttle Atlantis.
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- ColossalView
- 6 months ago
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