Hubble Space Telescope Ready for Its Final Makeover

摘要

After 19 years orbiting hundreds of kilometers above Earth's surface, the Hubble Space Telescope is getting its fifth and final makeover, with a slate of new instruments and repairs scheduled that will restore and expand some of the iconic telescope's capabilities.rnAt press time, the astronaut crew that will give Hubble its tune-up was slated to launch aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis May 11 for an 11-day mission. The excitement over the mission and Hubble's capabilities afterward is palpable among NASA scientists.rn"If we are successful, [Hubble] will be more powerful and robust than ever before and it will continue to enable world-class science for at least another five years," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.