Endeavour Astronauts Praise NASA for Hubble Mission

The overhaul of the Hubble Space Telescope shows NASA is capable of giving a “100%” commitment to a project, astronauts on the space shuttle Endeavour said Sunday.

Although NASA won’t know whether the repairs were successful until weeks of tests are done, the astronauts’ ability to install 11 new parts has boosted morale at the space agency and, for many, demonstrated that a space station can be built.

“We’re going to have to wait six weeks to two months to get the final results,” payload commander and chief spacewalker F. Story Musgrave said. “But in a nutshell, what was it all about? It was NASA had the courage to go for it all.”

“It’s very important when we think ahead to the future and to the space station and any other project that NASA’s undertaking, to realize the reason for the success of this mission . . . is NASA went for it 100%,” said astronaut Jeffrey A. Hoffman.

“Everybody was behind this mission,” Hoffman said during a news conference from orbit.

The briefing came on the astronauts’ last scheduled day in space. NASA aimed to complete the 11-day mission with a 9:26 p.m. PST landing Sunday at the Kennedy Space Center.

NASA said the telescope, orbiting 369 miles high, appears to be in good condition. The astronauts released the $1.6-billion observatory Friday after five lengthy spacewalks.