Astronauts set to repair hubble telescope

Space Shuttle Atlantis' astronauts grabbed the Hubble Space Telescope, setting the stage for five days of treacherous spacewalking repairs in a lofty orbit littered with space junk.

Robot arm operator, Megan McArthur, used the 15 meter boom to seize the school bus-sized telescope. This as the two spacecrafts sailed over 500 kilometers above Australia. Wednesday's move will enable two teams of spacewalking astronauts to take turns venturing outside to replace the 19-year-old Hubble's batteries and gyroscopes.

They are also set to replace an old camera and pointing mechanism. And the astronauts will install fresh thermal covers on the telescope and a new science data-control unit.