Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Hubble's Troubles Surprised Shuttle Crew

This NASA image shows the Hubble Space Telescope following grapple of the giant observatory by the shuttle's Canadian-built remote manipulator system on May 13. US astronauts aboard the shuttle Atlantis bid the Hubble telescope a wistful farewell Tuesday, ending a grueling revamp to equip the aging stargazer to explore the cosmos for years to come. (AFP/NASA/File)

From Yahoo News/Reuters:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – Years of training didn't prepare the shuttle Atlantis astronauts for the problems encountered during NASA's final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, the crew said on Wednesday.

With the refurbished telescope back in orbit, the seven shuttle astronauts took some time off and began preparing for Friday's homecoming at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"It's amazing looking back at how hard things looked a couple of times -- more difficult than I ever expected -- and then to overcome and wind up with everything done in the way that it was. We were very successful," Atlantis commander Scott Altman told reporters during an in-flight news conference on Wednesday.

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