spacetoday.net: NASA approves Hubble servicing mission

Posted: Tue, Oct 31, 2006, 8:05 PM ET (0105 GMT)
Hubble Space Telescope (NASA)

NASA announced Tuesday that it has reinstated plans to perform a final shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, allowing the aging observatory to continue observations for several more years. NASA administrator Mike Griffin said that a rigorous technical analysis led him to conclude that such a mission could be carried out a safe and effective manner. The mission, STS-125, is currently scheduled for some time between the spring and fall of 2008; the astronauts who will fly the mission, including veterans of some previous Hubble servicing missions, were also announced Tuesday. The goal of the shuttle mission is to install two new instruments and make a number of repairs to the telescope, which will allow the telescope to continue operations through at least 2013. The mission will be the only shuttle mission that will not fly to the ISS before the fleet is retired in 2010. The fact that the shuttle will not be able to reach the safe haven of the space station in the event of a in-flight problem had caused NASA to cancel the mission back in January 2004. NASA estimates the total cost of the mission to be $900 million.