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Long recovery from mass extinction seen
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 11 (UPI) -- Space shuttle Atlantis lifted off Monday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, en route to provide the final servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Veteran astronaut Scott Altman commands the STS-125 mission, with retired Navy Capt. Gregory Johnson serving as pilot. The crew also includes veteran spacewalkers John Grunsfeld and Mike Massimino, and first-time space fliers Andrew Feustel, Michael Good and Megan McArthur.
During the 11-day mission the National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronauts will perform five spacewalks, installing two new instruments, repairing two inactive ones and making component replacements that will keep the telescope functioning until at least 2014.
The servicing mission, the fifth, is designed to update Hubble, which has been in operation for 19 years. NASA said Hubble, after it is upgraded, will be 100 times as powerful as it was when it went into orbit in April 1990.
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| Additional Science News Stories | |
MIAMI, May 30 (UPI) --
The man who bit off parts of the face of a homeless man in Miami found his victim sleeping in the shade of elevated train tracks, video footage shows.
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LOS ANGELES, May 30 (UPI) --
Actor Tim Daly said via Twitter his character Pete Wilder won't be on next season of the U.S. medical drama, "Private Practice."
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ITHACA, N.Y., May 30 (UPI) --
The genome of the tomato has been decoded, a step toward improving yield, nutrition, disease resistance, taste and color of the tomato, U.S. researchers say.
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TUCSON, May 30 (UPI) --
An Arizona woman said her 8-year-old daughter was humiliated to receive the "Catastrophe Award" from her teacher for giving the most homework excuses.
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