Atlantis cleared for launch

AFTER months of delay, NASA cleared space shuttle Atlantis for launch today to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Mission managers concluded on Saturday that Atlantis is ready to take off on the long-awaited Hubble repair mission, the fifth and final one. Shuttle Endeavour is also in good shape at the other launch pad; it’s on standby in case Atlantis is damaged in the flight and its seven astronauts need to be rescued.

Weather forecasters gave good odds for launching Atlantis – 80%. What’s more, things were looking more encouraging at the emergency landing site in Spain, where only a slight chance of rain is expected today.

Atlantis’ crew will perform five space walks on consecutive days to install new cameras and equipment at Hubble, and to repair broken science instruments. The mission had been scheduled for last October, but a failure at the orbiting observatory put everything on hold.

Astronauts last visited Hubble in 2002. NASA wants to replace some of the telescope’s old parts – like batteries and gyroscopes – so it will keep beaming back breathtaking views of the cosmos for another five to 10 years.

Scientists expect those pictures to be even more spectacular with the addition of new science instruments going up on Atlantis.