A new height in Hubble repairs

Spacewalking astronauts gave the Hubble Space Telescope a more commanding view of the cosmos by installing a new high-tech instrument Saturday, then pulled off their toughest job yet: fixing a broken camera.

It was the third spacewalk in as many days for the shuttle Atlantis crew and probably the most intricate ever performed because of the unprecedented camera repairs. Astronauts had never before tried to take apart a science instrument at the 19-year-old orbiting observatory.

Hubble’s chief mechanic, John Grunsfeld, deftly opened up the burned-out camera and plucked out all four electronic cards to be replaced.

“Somehow I don’t think brain surgeons go ‘woo-hoo’ when they pull something out,” one of the astronauts observed from inside Atlantis.

The new cards and power supply pack went in just as smoothly. In fact, the astronauts found themselves running on schedule for a change, their spacewalk lasting the allotted 6 1/2 hours. The first two spacewalks ran long because of unexpected difficulties encountered with Hubble, last visited seven years ago.

The astronauts cheered when Mission Control radioed up the news that the repaired camera had passed the first round of testing.

A second round of testing was expected to last into the night. Early Saturday evening, Mission Control told astronauts that a new spectrograph that spacewalkers also installed passed both of its tests.

Even with two spacewalks remaining, including the repair of a major instrument today, NASA managers were handing out accolades and talking about how improved the telescope already is.