Posted: Tue, Mar 5, 2002, 2:25 PM ET (1925 GMT)
Two astronauts completed the second of five spacewalks early Tuesday to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Astronauts Mike Massimino and Jim Newman spent seven hours and 16 minutes outside the shuttle Columbia early Tuesday. They installed the second of two new solar panels for the orbiting observatory, and replaced one of Hubble's reaction control wheels, used for attitude control. Both of those tasks were completed successfully and ahead of schedule, so the two also installed a thermal blanket on the outside of one of Hubble's equipment bays and checked two latches on a shroud that covers two of Hubble's instruments. The third, and arguably most critical, spacewalk of the mission is scheduled for early Wednesday, when John Grunsfeld and Richard Linnehan will replace the power control unit in Hubble. This requires turning off the telescope's power for the first time since it was launched in 1990, and is considered very risky because of the possibility that the spacecraft's power could not be restored, rendering Hubble inoperative.

Related Links:

•  SPACE.com article
•  Reuters article
•  Spaceflight Now mission status center
•  SPACE.com mission coverage