WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama praised the crew of the shuttle Atlantis for their
perseverance in a difficult mission to extend the life of the 19-year-old Hubble Space
Telescope.

The astronauts themselves rejoiced at what they characterized as the unexpected full
success of their soon to end mission to equip the telescope for at least another five years of
observations.

“Like a lot of Americans I have been watching with amazement the gorgeous images you have been sending back and the incredible repair mission you have been making in space,”
said Obama in a call from the White House.

“I think you are providing a wonderful example of the kind of dedication and commitment to
exploration that represents America and the space program in general. These are traits that
have always made this country strong,” he said.

The president spoke with the astronauts for six minutes. Though the conversation was
private, the White House provided an audio recording of the exchange.

“Watching you guys out in space on some of these spacewalks is amazing,” Obama told John
Grunsfeld, an astronomer turned astronaut who led three of the mission’s five spacewalks.

“What you guys represent is an example of what vision means in the space program, always
describing our willingness to stretch beyond currrent boundaries and to look at things in new
ways,” said Obama.

“I’m hoping you guys recognize how important your mission is to the world as well as to this
country, the president said.”

“I can assure you it’s a high priority of mine to restore that sense of wonder that space can
provide and to make sure we have a strong sense of misison, not just within NASA but for
the country as a whole.”

They overcame stuck bolts, a power tool that lost battery power at a crucial point in the
repair of the telescope’s black hole hunter.

The successful outcome was a testament to the value of humans rather than robots in
space, the astronauts said.

“Many of the things we did were not possible robotically,” Grunsfeld told reporters. “That is
the real utility of humans. We are able to deal with situations that are unexpected, and we
do that all day long.”

“We all feel pretty good about what has been accomplished up here,” said Megan McArthur,
the shuttle’s robot arm operator. “We are of course looking forward to getting back home,
celebrating with eveyone, then unwinding with our families.”

The shuttle crew examined the wings and nose of their space ship using cameras and lasers
fitted to a boom on the robot arm.

Meanwhile, NASA marked another milestone on Wednesday as it gave the U.S., Russian and
Japan crew of the international space station permission to drink water recylced from urine
and huminity recovered from the breathing air.

The recycled water will make it easier for the orbital base to begin housing six rather than
three full time astronauts. The station’s current three man crew will be joined by three more
fliers who are preparing to lift off from Russian on May 27.