Shuttle crew set for Hubble mission

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A good weather forecast means a launch on Monday night is likely.

The 19-year-old Hubble has seven years of accumulated maintenance work that needs doing.

That means new batteries, new gyroscopes, new cameras and various other equipment that Nasa hopes will keep the telescope operating -- at a higher than ever scientific level -- for another five to 10 years.

The seven-year gap is due mainly to the 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster.

In all, five spacewalks are planned in order to get all the work done.

This mission was considered so dangerous in the wake of the Columbia accident that it was cancelled in 2004.

Nasa reinstated it two years later after coming up with shuttle repair techniques and an immediate rescue plan involving a second shuttle, the Endeavour.

The crew of the Atlantis will be unable to get to the international space station if there is a problem during the mission as it is in a different orbit to the Hubble.