The space shuttle Atlantis approached the Hubble orbit on Wednesday, setting the stage for a difficult, 5-day repair job to clear out space junk and refine the orbit's utilities. Commander Scott Altman spotted Hubble and reported back to NASA, “that star approaching from the east.” No one has seen the telescope up close since 2002. “We hope to get a lot closer,” Altman radioed from 268,000 feet away. The capture is expected to occur over the Indian Ocean, just northeast of Madagascar. Hubble scientists and managers warn that Hubble may look a little ragged; it hasn't had a tuneup for seven years. On Thursday, two teams of spacewalking astronauts will leave the Atlantis, and embark on a mission to replace the 19-year-old Hubble's batteries and gyroscopes, and an old camera and pointing mechanism, among other tasks. Another space shuttle, the Endeavor, is waiting at Cape Canaveral, Florida, prepared to undertake a rescue mission if something goes awry. The mission is particularly dangerous, because of the floating space junk, which is liable to pierce a space suit.
