Discovery astronaut servicing the Hubble Space Telescope

In February 1997, space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-82, landed safely at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, completing the second Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. Here, former NASA astronaut Steven L. Smith is servicing the orbiting telescope. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center was responsible for the design, development and construction of the telescope. Hubble was designed with these types of on-orbit servicing missions in mind as a way of extending the telescope’s lifespan. Today, Marshall is responsible for mirror technology development and environmental research on the James Webb Telescope -- the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to Hubble. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this, and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage. (NASA)