IMAX Camera Returns to Space to Chronicle Hubble Space Telescope

IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures announced Monday that, in cooperation
with NASA, the IMAX 3D camera is scheduled to return to space in 2008 aboard the
space shuttle during STS-125 for production of a new film. Set for release in
early 2010, IMAX will chronicle the life story of the Hubble Space Telescope.

"We are thrilled that people from around the world will experience this vital
servicing mission from a front row seat," said Shana Dale, NASA deputy
administrator, Headquarters, Washington. "Audiences will be mesmerized as they
are transported to the distant galaxies of the universe."

IMAX's long-standing partnership with NASA has enabled millions of people to
travel into space through a series of award-winning films. The IMAX 3D camera
made its first voyage into space in 2001 for the production of "Space Station
3D." The Hubble IMAX 3D film will mark Warner Bros. Picture's first venture into
space.

Veteran astronaut Scott D. Altman will command the final space shuttle mission
to Hubble when the orbiter lifts off in late 2008. Navy Reserve Capt. Gregory C.
Johnson will serve as pilot. Mission specialists are veteran spacewalkers John
M. Grunsfeld, Michael J. Massimino, and first-time space fliers Andrew J.
Feustel, Michael T. Good and K. Megan McArthur.

The Hubble servicing mission is an 11-day flight. Following launch, the shuttle
will rendezvous with the telescope on the third day of the flight. Using the
shuttle's mechanical arm, the telescope will be placed on a work platform in the
cargo bay. Five separate spacewalks will be needed to accomplish all of the
mission objectives.

"A decade ago we made a film that briefly touched on the subject of Hubble, but
back then its first images were just coming in," said IMAX producer and director
Toni Myers. "Today, we have Hubble's entire phenomenal legacy of data to
explore. With IMAX 3D, we can transport people to galaxies that are literally 13
billion light years away. Real star travel is here at last."

"Our original IMAX 3D releases have already put audiences in the driver's seat
of a NASCAR racecar and taken them swimming with some of the most exotic
undersea creatures on earth, and now we look forward to transporting them to the
far reaches of the universe," said Dan Fellman, domestic distribution president,
Warner Bros. Pictures. "Warner Bros. and IMAX have collaborated on 20 films over
the last four years, and we are excited to share our next endeavor -- the IMAX
3D space film -- with our audience."

Among work scheduled during the mission is the installation of two new
instruments, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and Wide Field Camera 3
(WFC3).

The COS is the most sensitive ultraviolet spectrograph ever flown on Hubble. The
instrument will probe the cosmic web, the large-scale structure of the universe
whose form is determined by the gravity of dark matter and is traced by the
spatial distribution of galaxies and intergalactic gas. WFC3 is a new camera
sensitive across a wide range of wavelengths (colors), including infrared,
visible, and ultraviolet light. It will have a broad capability to study the
planets in our solar system, the early and distant galaxies beyond Hubble's
current reach, and nearby galaxies with stories to tell about their star
formation histories.

Other planned work includes installing a refurbished Fine Guidance Sensor that
replaces one degrading unit of the three already aboard. The sensors control the
telescope's pointing system. An attempt also will be made to repair the Space
Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. Installed in 1997, it stopped working in 2004.
The instrument is used for high resolution studies in visible and ultraviolet
light of both nearby star systems and distant galaxies, providing information
about the motions and chemical makeup of stars, planetary atmospheres and other
galaxies.

Astronauts will attempt to repair the Advanced Camera for Surveys, which stopped
working in January 2007. The instrument consists of three imagers that are
equipped with a variety of filters and dispersers that detect light from the
ultraviolet to the near infrared. It was installed during the March 2002
servicing mission (SM3B).

The Hubble Space Telescope is an international cooperative project between NASA
and the European Space Agency. For more information about the mission and the
Hubble Space Telescope, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble