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Because the repairs are so numerous and so intricate -- the 600-lb., telephone booth-size compartment containing Hubble's corrective lenses has to fit into an opening with less than an inch to spare -- the entire mission has + been choreographed more precisely than a Balanchine ballet. Unlike last year's rescue of Intelsat-6, in which astronauts literally grabbed the satellite when the shuttle's robot arm couldn't grasp it, the Hubble repairs require more agility than physical strength. Patience and caution are also crucial to the mission's success. Says astronaut Kathryn Thornton, who will install the planetary camera: "If you all on the ground think it's taking a long time to put it into position, well, it's got to be that way."
Whether or not the repairs work -- and that won't be fully known for several weeks -- it is becoming clear that big, risky, expensive projects like the Hubble have become too much for one country to handle. Even as Endeavour was being readied for launch, the Clinton Administration announced a major shift in plans for an orbiting space station, a project complex enough to make the Hubble mission's space walks seem like cakewalks. Formalizing a proposal first floated last spring, the White House confirmed that the space station will be a multinational venture, with a starring role reserved for America's old rival, Russia. This week the U.S. will invite the land of Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin to turn the space race into a space partnership. Moscow's agreement is assured.
The deal appears to be a bargain for everyone. Russia will get about $1 billion in revenues during the next decade, creating about 60,000 jobs in its depressed aerospace industry, in return for supplying hardware and expertise. The U.S. and its other partners in the project -- Japan, Canada, Italy and the European Space Agency -- will save an estimated $2 billion over the same period, bringing the expected space-station price tag down to $29 billion.
The result is intended to be a station that is bigger and more versatile and that flies higher than the model previously planned by the U.S. But it will never become a reality if Congress, already fed up with NASA's constant cost overruns, balks at funding the project. Even though congressional leaders from both parties have cautiously endorsed the plan to join forces with the Russians, one more major space failure could blow the whole deal.
That is why the space station's advocates will be rooting so hard this week for the Endeavour astronauts. If they fail to fix the Hubble, Congress will have less confidence that NASA can carry out even tougher missions -- with or without Russian help.