Synopsis

The most celebrated instrument of scientific inquiry was nearing the end of its life. After nearly two decades orbiting Earth and capturing hundreds of thousands of breathtaking images, the Hubble Space Telescope suffered critical failures: its gyroscopes and sensors were failing, its batteries depleted, and several instruments had already fallen silent. The sole prospect of restoring Hubble was a mission deemed so perilous that NASA had canceled it in 2004 due to unacceptable risk.