Servicing Mission 4’s goal was to bring Hubble's scientific capability to its peak
performance.
But safety concerns after the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew
in 2003 canceled the mission.
After 2 years of safety review and study, NASA administrator Michael Griffin had an
exciting announcement:
“We are going to add a shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope to the
shuttle manifest to be flown before it retires.”
Finally, the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched, and Hubble’s final servicing mission began
.
Astronauts installed 2 new science instruments, brought 2 others back to life, replaced gyroscopes
and batteries, installed new insulation, and added a soft-capture mechanism.
Servicing Mission 4 left Hubble scientifically more powerful than ever before.
Today Hubble observations continue to change our understanding of the universe and its
journey of discovery is expected to last for years to come.