Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
Columbia Releases Hubble Back Into Orbit
Aired March 09, 2002 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: First off, the Hubble space telescope is back in orbit after a week of repairs by the crew of the shuttle Columbia.
Good morning, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips.
We're going to go to my partner now, Miles O'Brien, our -- also our space correspondent. He's at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Good morning.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra.
I'm in a very, very special place. This is Building Nine at the Johnson Space Center. This is where people who they think have the right stuff are come -- are brought to be tested and are given the run-through in various simulators.
I'm standing amid, right now, the International Space Station mockups, which give crews a good sense of what that's all about. Over on the other end of this 54,000-square-foot room, there's a series of space shuttle simulators that give crews an opportunity to learn how those systems operate. And even at the far end, there's a robotic arm, the same arm that is used on the International Space Station.
This is a special place, as I say, for astronauts. It's also a fun place, I should say, for one space correspondent to be this morning.
And we have a lot in store for you over the next three hours, chief among the things, we're going to be talking with the crew of the space shuttle Columbia in just a few moments.
But first let me give you -- bring you up to date with what's been going on in orbit this morning. About two hours ago, Columbia, after a very successful week attached to the Hubble space telescope, set free that telescope, and it is in a much better way than it was when they got there. It has increased electrical capabilities, it has a better gyroscope, it has a brand-new camera 10 times stronger than anything that has been on there in the past. And the crew apparently resuscitated an old infrared camera that had died because its cooling device had failed.
So a very successful week. And NASA had said in advance of this mission, this is the most aggressive series of space walks ever attempted from a space shuttle. At one point they actually shut down the Hubble space telescope for the first time since it was launched 12 years ago. Four and a half hours it was lifeless. They turned it back on, and it came back to life. Lot of astronomers all across the world were turning blue during that period of time.
But this crew can come home and be very proud of what they accomplished in orbit. The Hubble is good at least for another eight years, according to NASA planning right now. One more repair mission is scheduled in the next couple of years.
Now, that crew interview, it'll be interesting to talk to them, see them, I'm sure spirits are very high on board the space shuttle Columbia, in the 8:00 a.m. Eastern hour, about 8:15 precisely. That is NASA time. They will be fairly precise about it. We're going to have an opportunity to talk to the crew, and, you know, sort of get a sense of what's been going on in space. It's been a difficult mission. They've had a lot of challenges. Those space walks have been challenging, but they managed to pull it off well.
We invite you now to send your e-mails. All throughout the morning, we'll be taking your e-mails. We want you to participate in this program if you have questions about the space program in general, about the Hubble space telescope, about the space shuttle, about the International Space Station, just what it's like to be in space.
We have a couple of astronauts coming. We have an expert on space walks who's going to be here to show us all about the suit and how space walkers do their job.
Send us your e-mails to WAM, W-A-M, @cnn.com, and we'll sprinkle those questions all throughout the morning. We'll give you a phone number a little bit later.
And Kyra, I assume you have a couple of questions as well.
PHILLIPS: Oh, of course. I've already been cooking them up. You know me, you've taught me well, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
PHILLIPS: All right, we'll see you back here in a little bit, all right?
O'BRIEN: Looking forward to it.
PHILLIPS: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
