NASA is preparing for the launch of the Atlantis space shuttle, which will carry out extensive repairs and improvements to the Hubble telescope.

The Hubble Space Telescope is set to receive its final servicing when NASA’s Atlantis space shuttle is launched from Florida today (11 May).

The Atlantis space shuttle, with a team of astronauts onboard, will depart today on an eleven day mission with hopes of repairing the faltering space telescope.

The servicing mission was supposed to commence last September but a last-minute malfunction caused the launch to be delayed until May 2009.

Over a course of five spacewalks, the astronauts will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and also perform various component replacements, which should make the space observatory functional until at least 2014.

The mission’s top scientific priority is the installation of the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectograph.

The Wide Field Camera 3 will enable a greater exploration of dark energy and dark matter as well as the formation of individual stars. The camera has the ability to see different types of light including near-ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared.

It will also be the driving force for NASA’s research into the discovery of remote galaxies – something that was previously beyond the Hubble’s ability when it was launched in 1990.

The Cosmic Origins Spectograph will be able to study the intricacies behind galaxy evolution, the formation of planets, the rise of elements needed for light and the cosmic web of gas between galaxies. The spectrograph will also improve the Hubble’s ultraviolet sensitivity tenfold.

Upon successful completion of the repairs, the Hubble Space Telescope will be able to continue its journey orbiting the Earth and reveal further unique data about the mysteries of the universe.