WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Personnel work near the nose of Space Shuttle Discovery as it stands in a vertical position in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Discovery is being connected to the solid rocket boosters (left and right) and external tank (center) that will be used to launch mission STS-103 in early December. This 10-day mission is designed to replace aging parts on the nine-year-old Hubble Space Telescope and to upgrade some of its functioning systems. During the flight, the astronaut crew will replace all six of the observatory's gyroscopes, a fine guidance sensor, its main computer, and other equipment.