
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 16, 1993                   TAG: 9312160059
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

HUBBLE TELESCOPE OPERATING JUST FINE

The Hubble Space Telescope, perking along 369 miles above Earth, is doing well so far.

"The equipment appears to function exactly the way we expected," NASA's Preston Burch said Wednesday in the space agency's first fitness report since the $629 million mission to renovate the telescope.

The Hubble was released again into its own orbit Friday after five days of extensive repairs by space-walking astronauts from the Shuttle Endeavour. Engineers on the ground began immediately to check it out, a process that will continue for three months.

"It's going to be many weeks yet before we know how a lot of this has turned out," said David Leckrone, another top Hubble official. Ed Weiler, project scientist for Hubble, said, "We're almost in the home stretch now."

by CNB