Major upgrade for Hubble telescope

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. space officials said the Hubble Space Telescope will receive a major tuneup and upgrade this year.

The work will be begin in August when space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off with a crew of seven astronauts and a cargo of equipment, tools and new instruments. The shuttle also will carry an IMAX camera to record the mission for a movie scheduled for release in 2010.

NASA said the Hubble servicing mission will equip the orbiting observatory with far greater capabilities, the agency said Tuesday in a release.

"Hubble is, without exaggeration, a national treasure, and all of NASA is looking forward to seeing it receive this tuneup and upgrade," lan Stern, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, said at the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

The 11-day shuttle mission will feature five spacewalks, during which astronauts are to install a new set of the gyroscopes that will help stabilize the telescope, and batteries and thermal blankets to extend Hubble's operational life until at least 2013. A degrading fine guidance sensor unit also is to be replaced to help maintain the telescope's ability to point and focus, NASA said.