Atlantis Captures Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope has been captured by space shuttle Atlantis’ robotic arm.

Using views from a camera centered in a structure where the telescope will be berthed, McArthur will lower Hubble into a special cradle, called the Flight Support System, or FSS, in Atlantis’ payload bay. The telescope will be latched to the high-tech, lazy Susan-type device for the duration of the servicing work.

An umbilical adjacent to the rotating FSS will be remotely connected to provide electrical power from Atlantis to the telescope. Then, Altman will position the shuttle to allow Hubble’s solar arrays to gather energy from the sun to fully charge the telescope’s batteries.