NASA will repair Hubble space telescope

NASA said on Tuesday it would extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope until at least 2013 in a decision that involves a potentially risky space shuttle mission.
A space shuttle will make one final maintenance trip, tentatively in 2008, to the orbiting telescope even though astronauts will not be able to take shelter on the International Space Station if something goes wrong, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told cheering scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center outside Washington.
Hubble is considered by some scientists to be the most important astronomical instrument ever, capturing images of star birth and death, detecting planets outside our solar system and snapping eye-catching visions of the Milky Way and other galaxies. It has also examined the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet and helped determine the age of the universe. Scientists say the 16-year-old orbital observatory would function for only two or three more years without repairs.