The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has just sent back a spectacular new image of the spiral arms and dust clouds of the M 51 Whirlpool galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. The next scheduled HST servicing mission, STS 109/Columbia, is due for launch in November. This mission will include installation of a new Advanced Camera for Surveys instrument with double the field of view provided by the HST's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.
Source: Flight International