Nasa set for most dangerous mission to repair the Hubble Telescope

The US space agency said it was on target to launch on Monday the space shuttle Atlantis on its high-risk final mission to service the Hubble telescope. “Atlantis is ready to fly,” said Nasa test director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, adding that the countdown to launch was proceeding on schedule, with liftoff expected Monday at 1801 GMT. Weather forecasters said there was a 90% chance of favorable conditions for the launch from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The 11-day shuttle mission aims to provide the fifth and last maintenance operation to the Hubble before the shuttle fleet is retired, and if successful Nasa has said the mission would extend the star-gazer’s life by at least five years. Launched in 1990, Hubble has long been considered the greatest tool in the history of astronomy. Using powerful instruments to peer into deep space, it has provided profound insights into the origins and evolution of the universe. But Nasa experts stressed that the Atlantis mission carries heavy risks. “This will be the most challenging servicing mission that’s been faced by our astronauts in terms of the total amount of work,” said Preston Burch, mission manager. A journey to the Hubble carries more risk of being hit by space debris or micrometeorites than a flight to the International Space Station, as the telescope orbits at almost twice the height of the ISS.

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