After nearly 20 years in space and hundreds of thousands of spectacular images, the Hubble Space Telescope's gyroscopes and sensors were failing, the only hope to save Hubble was a mission so dangerous that in 2004 NASA cancelled it due to its high risks. Scientists and the general public alike stubbornly refused to abandon the telescope, and a new NASA administrator revived the mission. Hubble's Amazing Rescue takes viewers behind the scenes on a riveting journey with the team of astronauts and engineers charged with saving the famous "orbiting observatory" against all odds. For two years leading up to launch, filmmakers followed the mission closely, with unprecedented access to every aspect of the endeavor, from NASA's training facilities for flight preparation to the historic mission itself. NOVA followed the astronauts as they trained extensively for the mission- experiencing virtual weightlessness at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and practicing best procedures for the crucial spacewalks. Following the May 2009 launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the crew traveled 5,276,000 miles in 197 Earth orbits. Viewers see Hubble pulled from its own orbit by Atlantis' huge robotic arm and moved into the shuttle's payload bay, where it is housed during nearly 37 hours of painstaking repairs. The Atlantis crew followed a meticulously crafted script, two years in the making, in order to stay on schedule-each spacewalk carefully timed based on oxygen supply and physical strength. After all tasks were completed, Hubble was gently released back into space, now 10-to-70 times more powerful than when it was first launched- reaffirming its role as a vital scientific resource. While Hubble's Amazing Rescue documents the end of space shuttle missions to the world-famous telescope, it also excites viewers about new images, information and insights that will emerge from the powerful upgrades.

Running Time: 58 mins

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