Atlantis astronauts capture Hubble Space Telescope
By MARCIA DUNN, Associated Press
May 13, 2009 12:16 PM CDT
This image provided by NASA on Tuesday May 12, 2009 and annotated by source, shows white scuff marks around the edge of the shuttle where the right wing joins the fuselage and the belly curves up to the top of Atlantis. The Atlantis astronauts uncovered a 21-inch stretch of nicks on their space shuttle...   (Associated Press)

The Atlantis astronauts have captured the Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronauts grabbed the orbiting observatory early Wednesday afternoon for the first time since 2002. Astronaut Megan McArthur caught the school bus-sized telescope with the space shuttle's robot arm.

The astronauts now face five days of treacherous telescope repairs to the 19-year-old Hubble. That's because Atlantis and Hubble are flying in a 350-mile (560-kilometer)-high orbit, which is littered with space junk.

NASA has another shuttle on standby at its Florida launch site, ready to rush to the rescue if Atlantis is smacked by orbital debris and severely damaged.

The shuttle was already hit by debris during its launch Monday, but NASA says the 21-inch stretch of nicks on the shuttle's thermal tiles is not serious.

See 4 more photos