STS-109 Flight Day 3 Highlights

This footage from the third day of the STS-109 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) begins with the grappling of the HST by the robotic arm of the Columbia Orbiter, operated by Mission Specialist Nancy Currie. During the grappling, numerous angles deliver close-up images of the telescope which appears to be in good shape despite many years in orbit around the Earth. Following the positioning of the HST on its berthing platform in the Shuttle bay, the robotic arm is used to perform an external survey of the telescope. Some cursory details are given about different equipment which will be installed on the HST including a replacement cooling system for the Near Infrared Camera Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. Following the survey, there is footage of the retraction of both of the telescope's two flexible solar arrays, which was successful. These arrays will be replaced by rigid solar arrays with decreased surface area and increased performance.