NASA Plans Final Voyage For Hubble Space Telescope Mission

By: Rob Adams
Staff Writer
Published: Dec 6, 2008

NASA plans to return to the Hubble Space Telescope to fix repairs for the final time. Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for May 12, 2009. The mission will take 11 days to complete.

NASA on Thursday announced plans to return to the Hubble Space Telescope for final repairs. Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for a May 12, 2009 lift-off. The 11-day mission will be part of an upgrade which includes a new backup system for the telescope.

The original launch was delayed after the Hubble failed to send data back to mission control.

"Since then, engineers have been working to prepare a spare... They expect to be able to ship the spare, known as the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling System, to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in spring 2009," NASA said in a statement.

The Atlantis shuttle STS-125 to Hubble will be the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. The aging Hubble will be replaced in 2013 by a new sophisticated telescope.

NASA will conduct five space walks during the 11 day mission.

Hubble was launches 18 years ago and has revolutionized astronomy. The space telescope can take high quality photos from deep space. Hubble orbits 360 miles above Earth.