Astronauts finish work on inside of Hubble
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- Spacewalking astronauts completed repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope on Monday, leaving it more powerful than ever and able to peer even deeper into the cosmos — almost to the brink of creation. The last humans to lay hands on Hubble outfitted the observatory with another set of fresh batteries, a new sensor for precise pointing and protective covers. That equipment, along with other improvements made over the last five days, should allow the telescope to provide dazzling views of the universe for another five to 10 years.
"Hubble is returned to flagship status, and it now has a full arsenal of instruments," said Jon Morse, NASA's director of astrophysics.
It was the fifth and final spacewalk for the shuttle Atlantis crew, and the final visit by astronauts ever to Hubble.
As the spacewalk drew to a close, Hubble's chief mechanic, John Grunsfeld, accidentally bumped one of the telescope's antennas and knocked off its cap with his backpack.
"Oh, I feel terrible," he groaned.
Mission Control quickly assured the astronauts the antenna was fine.
"Sorry, Mr. Hubble, have a good voyage," Grunsfeld said after he covered up the tip.
"Consider it a goodbye kiss, John," one of his crewmates said.
The astronauts planned to set Hubble free Tuesday.
During this emotional last house call, astronauts gave Hubble two state-of-the-art science instruments and fixed two others.
The $220 million worth of new instruments should allow the telescope to gaze farther back into time — within 500 million or 600 million years of the first moments of the universe.
Prior to the repairs, Hubble was able to look back to within 800 million years.
"This is a very important moment in human history," said Hubble senior project scientist David Leckrone. "We will rewrite the textbooks at least one more time."
Hubble program manager Preston Burch acknowledged that the telescope still has some original parts, but noted "in many ways it is a brand-new observatory and far, far more capable than the Hubble of 1990."
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