Hubble floats away from the Space Shuttle Atlantis

PhysOrg: The Hubble Space Telescope has been with us for nearly two decades. In that time, its breathtaking images have captured people’s imaginations and its groundbreaking science has revealed some of the many secrets of our universe. This morning, at precisely 8:57 a.m. ET, a carefully orchestrated maneuver was carried out 350 miles above the Atlantic coastline of Africa, marking the successful end of the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission. [...] Thanks to new gyros, new batteries, new thermal blanketing and new science instruments, Hubble is poised to peer deeper into the cosmos than ever before. Spectacular images and data should start flowing from Hubble in about three months, after controllers have checked out and calibrated each of the observatory’s instruments and systems.