On March 1, 2002, the space shuttle Columbia, which has been flying for over 20 years now, launched from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida bound for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).  The seven-person crew (Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Duane Carey, and Mission Specialists John Grunsfeld, Nancy Currie, Rick Linnehan, Jim Newman, and Mike Massimino) were set to perform HST Servicing Mission 3B, the fourth flight to maintain and upgrade Hubble since its launch in 1990.  The 11-day mission involved five spacewalks, during which a new camera, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), new solar arrays and a new Power Control Unit (PCU) were installed, while one of the Hubble's  four Reaction Wheel Assemblies (RWA) were replaced and the Near Infrared Camera and Multiobject Spectrometer (NICMOS) was upgraded with a new cooling system.  The mission was a complete success, and since this mission Hubble has returned many spectacular new images, and made many new discoveries.

All of these are (of course) original NASA photographs, courtesy of the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, where the Hubble Space Telescope ground control is located.  A very special thanks to Barry Shanko for passing these photos on to me.

Astronausts James Newman (attached to Canadarm) and Michael Massimino (free-floating, near base of solar array) work on the Hubble's port solar array during the mission's second space walk.  Mission Specialist Nancy Currie was primary operator for the Canadarm during the spacewalks.

A gorgeous shot of the opening of the port solar array on the Hubble, with the Earth in the background.

These two photos show the deployment of the newly-fitted starboard solar panel during the first spacewalk.  Astronauts John Grunsfeld (top center, attached to Canadarm) and Richard Linneman (free-floating, lower left) help to unfold the new panel, which is both lighter and more efficient than its predecessor, allowing the telescope to be more stable in orbit.

A wonderfully crisp shot of spacewalker Michale Massimino (identified by the diagonal red stripes on his suit backpack), strapped to the Canadarm, retrieving the Reaction Wheel Assembly, which controls the Hubble's movement and target tracking, from the payload bay during the second spacewalk of the mission.  Note the mission checklist strapped to Massimino's left arm.

This close-up of a Solar Array Drive Mechanism shows some great details of the amazingly intricate surface of this spacecraft.  It also shows just how incredibly clear space photography can be, due to the lack of any atmosphere to distort the light in even minute amounts.

This final shot shows astronaut John Grunsfeld attached to the Canadarm, facing the cabin of the Columbia, with Richard Linneman gripped to Hubble's side behind him.  This shot provides some very good details of the Canadarm (AKA the Remote Manipulating System, or RMS).

NASA's website provides an embarrassment of riches with regards to online resources.  I will confine myself to suggesting the STS-109 website at this point, and let you plow through the mass of information on NASA's website at your leisure (be sure to check out the external fuel tank camera view from Atlantis' STS-112 mission, though!).  There are many Shuttle models out there, and more than one Hubble kit, so enjoy!