Success! Columbia Releases Upgraded Hubble

By Fraser Cain - March 11, 2002 at 10:56 AM UTC | Missions

After five days of repairs, the newly upgraded Hubble Space Telescope was released from the space shuttle

Columbia

. Over the past week, spacewalking astronauts outfitted Hubble with new solar panels, power controller, pointing mechanism, and an advanced camera - 10 times more powerful than its previous system. During this mission, the astronauts set a record for time spent spacewalking, spending a total of 35 hours, 55 minutes outside the shuttle.

Columbia

is due to return to Earth on Tuesday morning.