The Hubble Space Telescope, hobbled by old age and years of post-Columbia neglect, was plucked out of open space by the crew of the shuttle Atlantis today, setting the stage for a final five-spacewalk overhaul to give the iconic observatory an extended lease on life.

Atlantis captures Hubble. Credit: NASA TV

Commander Scott Altman, who flew an F-14 jet in the movie "Top Gun," deftly maneuvered the orbiter to within a few dozen feet of the 24,500-pound telescope as the two spacecraft sailed through space in lockstep, covering 84 football fields per second 350 miles above western Australia.

Astronaut Megan McArthur, operating the shuttle's 50-foot-long robot arm with easy grace, then grappled the huge observatory at 1:14 p.m. to wrap up a two-day rendezvous.

"Houston, Atlantis, Hubble has arrived on board," Altman exclaimed.

"Atlantis, Houston, we copy. Nice job, Megan, nice job on the prox ops flying as well," astronaut Dan Burbank replied from mission control. "It's great to be back with the telescope."

"Thank you, Houston, appreciate the support getting us here," Altman said.

Added lead spacewalker self-described "Hubble hugger" John Grunsfeld: "We're very excited up here, I can tell you."

The only problems during today's approach was a glitch with a communications unit aboard Atlantis designed to relay commands to the telescope from Hubble engineers on the ground. As it turned out, the equipment was working properly, but the engineers were attempting to send commands at a higher-than-allowed data rate. The commands were sent through a NASA satellite instead and the astronauts easily compensated for a minor delay that resulted in a slight misalignment between the two spacecraft.

After confirming final commands had, in fact, reached the telescope, McArthur was cleared to mount Hubble on a rotating service platform at the back of Atlantis' payload bay. Once locked in place, the astronauts carried out a detailed photo survey to document the condition of Hubble's protective insulation and to look for signs of impact damage from micrometeoroids and space debris.

An electrical cable in the servicing platform was remotely extended and plugged into a receptacle at the base of the telescope to provide shuttle power for the duration of the overhaul.

"We'd like to congratulate you on a great job today with the rendezvous, the grapple and the berth," Burbank radioed at the end of his shift. "It's wonderful to see Hubble safely aboard Atlantis and we're all looking forward very much to a couple of great days of EVA."

"Hey Dan, to you, Tony (Ceccacci, lead flight director), the entire team ... we just want to say thanks for all the work that got us to this point," Altman said. "We realize we're just setting the stage for the main activity, doing the repairs on Hubble, but you've got to get past step one to get any further along and having Hubble safely berthed in the bay feels great to us. Thanks to you all, it was a team effort, and we appreciate the help."

Seen for the first time since a pre-Columbia service call in early 2002, the space telescope appeared to be in remarkably good condition given its 19 years in the harsh environment of space, with no immediately obvious problems with its insulation panels or other exterior components.

"Just looking out the window here, and it's an unbelievably beautiful sight, amazingly, the exterior of Hubble, an old man of 19 years in space, still looks in fantastic shape," Grunsfeld radioed.

But Hubble Program Manager Preston Burch said appearances could be deceiving.

"As we approached Hubble, the location of the grapple, we're only looking at one side of it and that's the side that never sees the sun," he said. "That's the side that has the least amount of degradation and the side we would expect to be in the best condition. When we go around to the other side, we can logically expect substantially more deterioration."

The first of five back-to-back spacewalks is on tap Thursday, starting around 8:16 a.m. Over the course of the mission, the astronauts plan to install two new science instruments, repair two others, swap out a science data computer and install new batteries, gyroscopes, a refurbished fine guidance sensor and new insulation panels.

The goal is to extend Hubble's life by at least five years.

"We're very much looking forward to getting on with these EVA activities," said Jon Morse, director of astrophysics at NASA headquarters. "I wanted to note that when we first had the image of HST on the big screen in our control room, there were audible gasps of elation that this was truly a wonderful sight seven years or so after the last servicing mission, to see the space telescope. ... After 19 years, it still looks to be in fantastic shape. So we're really looking forward to tomorrow and getting on with the instrument upgrades and repairs."

Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: SHUTTLE ENGINE FIRING TO CIRCULARIZE ORBIT PLAY
VIDEO: INSIGHTFUL OVERVIEW OF ATLANTIS' MISSION PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW ANIMATION OF HUBBLE RENDEZVOUS PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 2 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE FROM HST CONTROL CENTER PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S MISSION MANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE PLAY
VIDEO: SLOW-MOTION OF DEBRIS THAT APPARENTLY HIT TILES PLAY
VIDEO: TILE DAMAGE FOUND DURING INSPECTIONS PLAY
VIDEO: CAPCOM CALLS CREW ABOUT MINOR DAMAGE PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW ANIMATION OF HEAT SHIELD INSPECTIONS PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: THE FULL STS-125 LAUNCH EXPERIENCE PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: EXTERNAL TANK CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: FOOTAGE OF FUEL TANK AFTER JETTISON PLAY

VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: FRONT CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: BEACH TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PAD PERIMETER PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: UCS-23 TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-1 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-2 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-6 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: VAB ROOF PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PRESS SITE PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: WEST TOWER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 009 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 041 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 049 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 050 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 051 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 060 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 061 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 063 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 070 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 071 PLAY

VIDEO: SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS BLASTS OFF! PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: STS-125 POST-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: INSIDE MISSION CONTROL DURING LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION OF DAY 1 INSPECTIONS PLAY

VIDEO: FINAL PRE-LAUNCH READINESS POLLS CONDUCTED PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE'S CREW MODULE HATCH CLOSED FOR FLIGHT PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST MEGAN MCARTHUR BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: PILOT GREG JOHNSON BOARDS ATLANTIS PLAY
VIDEO: MISSION SPECIALIST JOHN GRUNSFELD BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE COMMANDER SCOTT ALTMAN BOARDS PLAY
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR LAUNCH PAD PART 1 | PART 2
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DON SPACESUITS FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE OF LAUNCH PAD GANTRY ROLLBACK PLAY

VIDEO: HUBBLE'S FUTURE AFTER ATLANTIS SERVICING PLAY
VIDEO: TOP DISCOVERIES MADE BY HUBBLE TELESCOPE PLAY
VIDEO: THE ROLLERCOASTER LIFE OF HUBBLE PLAY
VIDEO: WHAT IS HUBBLE'S PLACE IN HISTORY? PLAY
VIDEO: ENTERTAINING LOOK AT ATLANTIS' CREW PLAY
VIDEO: HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE HISTORY MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: A TRIBUTE TO THE CAMERA THAT SAVED HUBBLE PLAY
VIDEO: HUBBLE TELESCOPE PROGRAM BRIEFING FROM SUNDAY PLAY

VIDEO: SUNDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS AND WEATHER UPDATE PLAY
VIDEO: THE STS-125 PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS AND WEATHER UPDATE PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE AT THE CAPE FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS AND WEATHER UPDATE PLAY

VIDEO: NEWS BRIEFING FOLLOWING FLIGHT READINESS REVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: REFRESHER BRIEFING: THE STS-125 MISSION PLAY
VIDEO: REFRESHER BRIEFING: HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE PLAY
VIDEO: REFRESHER BRIEFING: THE SEVEN ASTRONAUTS PLAY

VIDEO: BIOGRAPHY MOVIE OF ATLANTIS' CREW PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH COMMANDER SCOTT ALTMAN PLAY | '09 UPDATE
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH PILOT GREG JOHNSON PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS1 MIKE GOOD PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS2 MEGAN MCARTHUR PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS3 JOHN GRUNSFELD PLAY | '09 UPDATE
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS4 MIKE MASSIMINO PLAY | '09 UPDATE
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS5 DREW FEUSTEL PLAY | '09 UPDATE

VIDEO: SHUTTLE ATLANTIS ARRIVES AT LAUNCH PAD 39A PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: THE SUN RISES ON ATLANTIS DURING ROLLOUT PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ATLANTIS EMERGES FROM ASSEMBLY BUILDING PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ORBITER VERTICAL FOR MATING TO FUEL TANK PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ATLANTIS MOVES BACK TO ASSEMBLY BUILDING PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: ATLANTIS LEAVES LAUNCH PAD 39A IN OCT. PLAY
VIDEO: TIMELAPSE OF THE ROLLBACK GETTING UNDERWAY PLAY

VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS REHEARSE QUICK SHUTTLE EXIT PLAY
VIDEO: CREW BOARDS ATLANTIS FOR MOCK COUNTDOWN PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DON SUITS FOR PRACTICE COUNTDOWN PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S TRAINING ON ESCAPE BASKETS AND BUNKER PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS CHAT WITH PRESS AT LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: CREW TEST DRIVES EMERGENCY PAD ESCAPE VEHICLE PLAY
VIDEO: COMMANDER AND PILOT PRACTICE LANDING APPROACHES PLAY
VIDEO: CREW ARRIVES AT CAPE FOR PRACTICE COUNTDOWN PLAY
VIDEO: COMMENTS FROM COMMANDER AFTER ARRIVING PLAY

VIDEO: AERIAL VIEWS OF ATLANTIS AND ENDEAVOUR PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: THE STS-125 MISSION PLAY
VIDEO: PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: THE FIVE SPACEWALKS PLAY
VIDEO: PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: THE SEVEN ASTRONAUTS PLAY
VIDEO: PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: NASA LEADERSHIP PLAY
VIDEO: PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: SHUTTLE PROGRAM BOSS PLAY
VIDEO: PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: HUBBLE OVERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: HUBBLE SCIENCE PLAY

VIDEO: SHUTTLE ARRIVES ATOP PAD 39A PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTIS EMERGES FROM VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ATLANTIS' ROLLOUT TO LAUNCH PAD PLAY

VIDEO: ATLANTIS ROLLS FROM HANGAR TO VAB PLAY
VIDEO: ATLANTIS LIFTED INTO PLACE FOR ATTACHMENT PLAY
MORE: STS-125 VIDEO COVERAGE
NEW! HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO
SUBSCRIBE NOW