The Hubble’s Last Mission

Almost overlooked in the hoopla over Monday’s launch of the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope has been another piece of gee-whiz space technology that will soon be only a museum exhibit: the space shuttle. There are only nine shuttle missions left, including the one that started when Atlantis blasted off through a thin layer of clouds drifting high above the Kennedy Space Center. Astronauts plan to latch onto the Hubble on Wednesday and then, early Thursday, begin a series of spacewalks in which they will replace, and in some cases repair on the spot, many of the telescope’s scientific instruments. – from Washpost

In a dramatic series of spacewalks in 1993, astronauts fitted Hubble with corrective lenses, restoring its vision and NASA’s pride. In the years since, astronauts have visited three more times, improving the telescope’s capability and cosmic reach by yanking old instruments, putting in new ones and performing other tasks — many of which were not originally meant to be performed by astronauts wearing the equivalent of boxing gloves. – from NYtimes