NASA gives green light to Hubble rescue

Another dramatic chapter
Even if the shuttle makes it safely to orbit, the mission's five spacewalks will hold drama enough: In addition to the installation of all the scientific instruments and replacement parts, astronauts will attempt an unprecedented in-orbit repair of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrometer, or STIS.

Preston Burch, Hubble's program manager, said new tools had to be developed for the operation — including a perforated plastic plate that would capture the 111 screws on the instrument's cover as they're unscrewed. The screw-laden cover would be replaced with an "astronaut-friendly" cover equipped with easy-fasten latches.

"One of the early worries was, how long would this take, and would they get fatigued?" senior project scientist David Leckrone said. "Now we envision a NASCAR wheel-changing operation."

During a news briefing at Johnson Space Center in Houston, some of the mission's seven astronauts said they learned only days before that they would be on the Hubble repair team. "I didn't fully believe it until I heard the words come out of the administrator's mouth," Altman said.

Altman, Grunsfeld and Massimino all took part in the most recent Hubble servicing mission in 2002, during which the Advanced Camera for Surveys was installed. "We were the last people to touch Hubble," Grunsfeld observed.

Altman and Grunsfeld both said they felt the servicing mission would be safer in 2008 than in 2002, but they agreed that there would always have to be some risk. "I feel like a mission to Hubble is worth risking my life for."

Setbacks and triumphs
Tuesday's round of announcements served as the start of a new chapter in the tale of Hubble's setbacks and triumphs. "It's been a roller-coaster ride," said Ed Weiler, director of Goddard Space Flight Center and a former chief scientist for the Hubble project.

Shortly after Hubble was deployed in 1990, scientists were horrified to find that the telescope produced out-of-focus pictures, due to an incorrectly shaped mirror. It wasn't until after corrective optics were installed during the first shuttle servicing mission in 1993 that Hubble reached its full glory.

Hubble's past results have helped astronomers figure out the age of the universe and identify dusty disks surrounding other stars — places where scientists believe alien worlds might lurk. Adam Riess, an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute who uses Hubble data to probe the mysteries of dark energy, said the Wide Field Camera 3 would be particularly useful for his research.

"Right now, measuring dark energy is one of main things that Hubble does, but we need many more observations," Riess told MSNBC.com.

Leckrone, NASA's top Hubble scientist, said the nature of dark energy was one of the most important scientific puzzles that the telescope's new instruments could help answer, but there are many others:

• The Wide Field Camera 3 should be able to extend the limits of Hubble's vision by hundreds of millions of light-years, back to a time when the first galaxies were making the transition "from toddler galaxies to little-children galaxies," Leckrone said.
• The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph could provide a "core sample" of the visible universe, shedding new light on its large-scale structure. Scientists say that structure takes the form of a cosmic web, dominated by invisible dark matter.
• Just before it failed, STIS conducted the first-ever chemical analysis of the atmosphere surrounding a planet beyond the solar system. Leckrone said he expected a refurbished STIS to check the atmospheres of another 10 to 12 extrasolar planets, perhaps even looking for the signature of organic activity.

If the servicing mission is successful, NASA could keep Hubble going until the 2013 time frame, when its scientific heir, the James Webb Space Telescope, is scheduled for launch. Grunsfeld even held out the hope that Hubble could last significantly longer, providing some overlap with the Webb telescope.

During the mission, spacewalkers will attach a docking device that will make it easier for future spacecraft to link up with Hubble — either for further servicing in the post-shuttle era, or for pushing Hubble out of orbit safely.

Celebrating ‘fantastic news’
Tuesday's announcement was hailed as "fantastic news" by the Baltimore-based Space Telescope Science Institute, which manages Hubble's scientific program. "We've been waiting for this for four years," said Matt Mountain, the institute's director.

He acknowledged that a renewed Hubble would increase the workload on the institute's scientists, but told MSNBC.com that "it's the kind of problem you like to have."

Senators as well as schoolchildren have joined the push to keep Hubble going. One of the telescope's biggest congressional champions, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., joined Griffin for Tuesday's announcement. She praised Griffin and O'Keefe for seeking a second opinion "from the engineers, not the accountants."

"It's a great day for science, it's a great day for discovery, it's a great day for inspiration, because that's one of the things that Hubble has meant to so many people," she said.

Max Mutchler, a science instrument analyst at the Space Telescope Science Institute, told MSNBC.com that he was gratified to see how the public has embraced the space telescope as something eminently worth saving.

"It's nice when other people compliment your 'kids,'" Mutchler said.

Goddard's Weiler said he was pleased with the decision to save Hubble, but there was a note of restraint to his rejoicing — perhaps because he was familiar with the telescope's previous ups and downs.

"Never celebrate until you succeed," he counseled. "The champagne doesn't get opened until the servicing mission is over and the light comes through."

Leckrone, however, apparently didn't get the message. He told reporters that he was planning to open a bottle of champagne to mark Tuesday's decision.

"Listen," he said, "I celebrate easy."

The director of the Space Telescope Science Institute was misidentified in a previous version of this report. Also, this report has been updated since initial publication to reflect the revised schedule for the Hubble servicing mission. Initially, the flight was planned for no earlier than May 2008, with Discovery as the dedicated shuttle.

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