Life Of The Orbiting Observatory Extended Offering Unsurpassed Research Opportunities

The Space Foundation has recognized the team that put together and executed the final manned repair visit to the Hubble Space Telescope in May of 2009, at its 26th annual National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. The team won the Space Foundations's 2010 Space Achievement Award.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was launched 20 years ago aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, on April 24, 1990, ushering in a new golden age of astronomy. Five successful servicing missions to the world's premier orbiting observatory were mounted during those two decades.

The final astronaut visit to Hubble in May 2009 was arguably the most difficult, and its success equipped the telescope with the systems and scientific instruments that will allow it to continue its exploration of the universe well into the next decade.

"The Hubble Space Telescope Repair Mission was extraordinary on so many levels," said Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham. "The foresight to attempt repairs rather than scrap the investment in the original telescope, the complexity and difficulty of the in-space maneuvers, the stunning visual images of the spacewalks transmitted from space, and an outcome that extended the life of this marvelous portal into the universe - all add up to an unmatched technological achievement."

The Hubble Space Telescope Repair Mission was a cooperative effort of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the STS-125 crew, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., ATK, Lockheed Martin, and the Space Telescope Science Institute.

"We are enormously proud to be a part of the Hubble Space Telescope team, and working side-by-side with our NASA colleagues and others in the contactor community is a genuine pleasure. This recognition from the Space Foundation is doubly joyful as we are about to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this incredible observatory," said Jim Crocker, vice president of Sensing & Exploration Systems at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "As a company, we strive for operational excellence, and the SM4 servicing mission is a perfect example of how accountability, commitment, communication and teamwork will lead to mission success in even the most difficult of endeavors."

FMI: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html