Originally published Monday, May 11, 2009 at 12:34 PM

UW grad Johnson pilot on shuttle-Hubble mission

An audience of about 300 people at the Museum of Flight in Seattle applauded the televised liftoff of the shuttle Atlantis.

SEATTLE —

An audience of about 300 people at the Museum of Flight in Seattle applauded the televised liftoff of the shuttle Atlantis.

The crew includes University of Washington engineering graduate Greg Johnson who is the pilot for the mission to upgrade the Hubble space telescope. His parents, Raleigh and Patsy Johnson, live in Mukilteo.

One of the two new instruments headed for Hubble is a camera developed by a team of scientists that includes UW astronomy Professor Bruce Balick.

The new camera will help scientists study how stars and planets form, evolve and die. The upgrade and maintenance will add five to 10 years to the life of the 19-year-old Hubble telescope.

This is the last shuttle mission to the telescope that orbits 350 miles above the earth.

(with information from KIRO-TV)

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