Space shuttle Discovery retrieved the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope on the night of December 22. The observatory was brought aboard the shuttle so spacewalking astronauts can replace broken and aging electronics on the 9 1/2-year old telescope. NASA images.

Moon rising As space shuttle Discovery closed in on Hubble, the astronauts took this dramatic image of the full moon rising aboard the Earth's atmosphere.
Hubble and the moon The Hubble Space Telescope appears as a small dot with the backdrop of a full moon about three hours prior to retrieval by Discovery.
Hello, Hubble For the first time in nearly three years, the world gets the first close up view of Hubble in space.
Inching closer The 120-ton shuttle Discovery moves ever so slowly toward the 12 1/2-ton Hubble.
Moving in for capture Commander Curt Brown takes control of Discovery for the final approach to Hubble, moving the shuttle within 35 feet of the telescope.
Up close and personal The astronauts examine one of Hubble's two the high gain antennas stowed against the telescope's body. Also note the old NASA worm logo on Hubble.
Gotcha! Mission specialist Jean-Francois Clervoy grabs the Hubble Space Telescope using Discovery's 50-foot robotic arm.
Welcome aboard Hubble is brought aboad Discovery and mounted atop a special table platform.
Let the servicing begin Hubble is locked down in the payload bay, ready for three consecutive days of spacewalks. Two pairs of astronauts will replace failed parts of the telescope's pointing system and install other new electronics.