STS-103: Flight Day 6 Highlights and Crew Activities Report

Discovery's astronauts (Mission Commander, Curtis L. Brown; Pilot, Scott J. Kelly; Mission Specialists, Steven L. Smith, C. Michael Foale, and John M. Grunsfeld; and (ESA) Mission Specialists, Claude Nicollier and Jean-Francois Clervoy) deliver a Christmas present to the world, putting the Hubble Space Telescope back into service after 24 hours and 33 minutes of repairs and upgrades that make the orbital observatory more capable than ever. European Space Agency Astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy uses the shuttle's robot arm to release the telescope at 5:03 p.m. CST, then places the arm into an upright salute as Commander Curt Brown fires Discovery's steering jets to begin separating from the telescope. The telescope's re-deployment takes place at an altitude of 370 statute miles as the two spacecraft fly over the South Pacific's coral sea northeast of Australia. At 5:39 CST, Brown executes a second steering jet burn, lowering Discovery's orbit slightly, so that it will begin orbiting faster than the telescope and move away at just under 6 statute miles per orbit. Afterward, each of the seven astronauts on board calls down holiday wishes from space in several languages.