Jan 8, 2008, 18:38 GMT
Washington - US astronauts due to overhaul the Hubble space telescope later this year hope to leave behind a craft that will see into space 90 times better than the original Hubble launched in 1990.
Astronomers and astronauts offered details of the long-awaited mission in a telecast news conference Tuesday from the American Astronomical Society meeting this week in Austin, Texas.
The technical challenges are great. NASA astronomer and astronaut John Grunsfeld, who will fly with Space Shuttle Atlantis in August to the orbiting Hubble, described the danger of sharp edges after his team cuts through panelling behind several of Hubble's cameras, and the difficulty of unscrewing and replacing more than 140 tiny screws in weightlessness.
But in the end, astronauts hope Hubble will have been rescued from the death sentence that until just six months ago seemed certain. That's when NASA gave in to huge pressure to cram the mission into the hectic final three years of the space shuttle programme.
The mission is expected to prolong Hubble's life by another five to 10 years or longer, by which time a new space telescope is expected to be launched.
The August mission aims to install a cosmic origins spectograph and replace a wide field camera in operation since 1993 with a Wide Field Camera 3. Hubble also needs new batteries, new gyroscopes and a new thermal blanket to insulate it from the 100-degree-Centigrade temperature swings as it orbits Earth every 45 minutes, the astronomers said.
Beyond the hardware challenges, however, Grunsfeld and his fellow astronomers exuded enthusiasm and affection for the space telescope that has earned them the nickname 'Hubble huggers.'
Hubble has delivered astonishing glimpses deeper into the universe and provided a generation of school children and space enthusiasts with dramatic, colorful photos of stars and galaxies spewing matter and taking form. The import of its accomplishments have not been lost on politicians and the general public who lobbied for its rescue.
'Hubble is almost about family,' Grunsfeld said. 'I look forward to grabbing hold of the handrail on Hubble, I feel like I'm headed to a family reunion.'
He recalled his sadness when leaving the telescope on the last repair mission in 2002.
'I was convinced it would be the last time I would see my friend Hubble the telescope,' he said.
Sandra Faber, an earth-bound Hubble team astronomer who specializes in the formation and evolution of galaxies, said the overhaul raises expectations for great scientific discovery in Hubble's last phase because of its increased speed, color spectrum and the wide angles available through new and repaired cameras.
'In the end, Hubble will be 90 times more powerful than when first launched' in 1990, Faber said.
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