May 23, 2013
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - The weather is looking up for
Monday's launch of space shuttle Atlantis to the Hubble Space
Telescope.
On Sunday, forecasters put the odds of acceptable conditions at
90 percent, about as good as it gets. That's better than originally
thought. And only a slight chance of rain is expected at the
emergency landing site in Spain.
Atlantis is poised to blast off just after 2 p.m. Monday for
NASA's last visit to Hubble. The 19-year-old observatory needs new
batteries, gyroscopes, cameras and other equipment. NASA hopes to
keep the telescope operating for another five to 10 years.
The 11-day mission was supposed to take place last October, but
was delayed after a critical part of the telescope failed.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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