http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn10411


New Scientist:

NASA to save Hubble, to astronomers=92 delight

NASA's most famous observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, will get a =

much anticipated life extension after all. NASA Administrator Michael =

Griffin announced on Tuesday that a space shuttle will be sent to =

upgrade Hubble and add a few years to the lifetime of the venerable =

queen of the sky.

"We are going to add a shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space =

Telescope to the shuttle's manifest to be flown before it retires [in =

2010]," Griffin said to applause at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center =

in Greenbelt, Maryland, US.
The move, though not unexpected, still had astronomers on the edge of =

their seats. The telescope is enormously popular and has brought back =

a wealth of data since its launch aboard a space shuttle in 1990.


...


The servicing mission, if successful, could keep Hubble operational =

until at least 2013. Without a shuttle flight, Hubble's instruments =

would have eventually started to shut down. The gyroscopes that point =

Hubble and keep it steady could last until 2008 and the batteries =

until 2010.

The servicing mission will add six new batteries, six gyroscopes, a =

flight guidance sensor, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Wide =

Field Camera 3. They will be by far the best instruments ever sent to =

Hubble.

Astronauts might also try to fix the Space Telescope Imaging =

Spectrograph by replacing an electronics board. Astronauts will attach =

handles on the back end of Hubble to make it easier to grab later, in =

preparation for its de-orbit, probably after 2020.

-- =

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