Astronauts install new camera on Hubble

— -- Using elbow grease to avert disaster, a spacewalking astronaut battled a stubborn bolt to pull an outdated camera out of the Hubble Space Telescope on Thursday. His success paved the way for the installation of a more powerful camera that will allow the telescope able to peer even further into the past.

Astronaut Andrew "Drew" Feustel unexpectedly ran into trouble on Thursday as he attempted to turn a bolt holding the 15-year-old Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 onto the observatory. Feustel tried various tools to pry out the bolt, but it would not budge. If the bolt had broken off as he wrenched it, the old camera would've stayed in the telescope and its $132 million replacement would've had to return to Earth.

In the end, the combination of a different tool and sheer muscle saved the day.

"I think I got it!" exclaimed Feutsel, who was making his first spacewalk, as he pried the bolt out.

Feustel had less success later in the spacewalk, when he tried to install some mechanisms that would make it easier to open up the telescope for repairs.

"That'll do it, we hope," as he tried once again to turn a sticky bolt. "Been doing a lot of that."

Feustel and six crewmates are making the fifth and final house call to the renowned Hubble. The astronauts, who pulled up to the telescope Wednesday aboard space shuttle Atlantis, are scheduled for a whirlwind six-day stay to upgrade and repair the telescope for the last time.

Thursday's outing was the first of five spacewalks in five consecutive days. It was supposed to be a straightforward jaunt, so much so that before Atlantis launched, Hubble program manager Preston Burch pegged the odds of success at close to 100%.

The aging Wide Field 2 had other plans. When it came time to slide the old camera out of its slot on the telescope, Feustel tried first one tool, then another and another to turn the bolt that latched the camera to Hubble. Veteran spacewalker John Grunsfeld, Feustel's partner, even double-checked that Feustel had positioned his tools correctly.