HOUSTON - The space shuttle Discovery's robot arm reached out yesterday and gently snared the Hubble Space Telescope in preparation for a $350 million refurbishment.
The 15 metre long robot arm, operated by an astronaut, Mr Steve Hawley, captured the gleaming 12 tonne observatory as the two craft soared 575 km above the Pacific Ocean, south west of Mexico. Mr Haley, an astrophysicist and astronomer who, rejoined NASA's astronaut corps for this mission, was involved in launching the telescope in 1990.