Hubble Gets Rebuild; Shuttle Gets Ticket Home
Space shuttle Columbia’s astronauts planned a landing before daybreak today, leaving behind a more powerful Hubble Space Telescope able to peer across the universe almost to the beginning of time.
The telescope was given $172 million worth of new gear: more powerful solar wings, a better central power unit, the most advanced optical camera ever launched to study the universe and a refrigeration system that NASA hopes will revive a disabled infrared camera.
With the enhanced Hubble, astronomers hope to look as far back as the universe’s first billion years.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
