LI astronaut readies for Hubble repair mission
? Franklin Square?s Mike Massimino is not your average repair man. In fact, he?ll be leaving the planet for his latest fix-it job when he?s scheduled to repair the Hubble Telescope as an astronaut aboard
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May 8, 2009, 6:24 PM
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Updated 5,613 days ago
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? Franklin Square?s Mike Massimino is not your average repair man.
In fact, he?ll be leaving the planet for his latest fix-it job when he?s scheduled to repair the Hubble Telescope as an astronaut aboard the space shuttle Atlantis.
?This is it,? says Massimino. ?This is our last chance to touch that telescope and to fix it.?
The scheduled mission is part of a career Massimino started dreaming about when he was a little boy.
?I was 6 years old when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, and I was there in Franklin Square in the living room in my pajamas watching that take place,? says Massimino.
The LI astronaut says the telescope repairs are very delicate, and they?re made even more difficult by the bulky gloves of his space suit.
Having been on the Columbia mission in 2002, Massimino says words can?t describe the view of Earth from space. ?It is beyond any words that we know ? the beauty of it.?
Atlantis is set to lift off Monday, May 11. The repairs to Hubble are expected to keep it running for another five to 10 years.
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