NASA To Send Team To Repair Hubble Telescope
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WASHINGTON — NASA will send a team of astronauts to repair the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, extending its life to 2013 and ensuring more discoveries about distant galaxies.
“We are going to add a Hubble servicing mission before the shuttle retires,” the head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Mike Griffin, said, clearing the way for a 2008 space shuttle mission.
Mr. Griffin’s predecessor canceled an earlier mission after the Columbia space shuttle disaster of 2003 forced the space agency to confine its immediate ambitions to finishing the half-built International Space Station.
The telescope, launched in 1990, is deteriorating and would probably be unusable within a few years without servicing.
The new mission will add cameras, guidance sensors, and stabilizing gear and replace old batteries, NASA said.
