Two astronauts from the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia have conducted spacewalks to install the first of two more powerful, electricity-generating solar panels from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan spent seven hours replacing one of the panels called "solar wings." A second pair of astronauts are to replace the second solar wing Tuesday.

The two new solar panels will use sunlight to generate 20 percent more power for the telescope than the old pair. The U.S. space agency's astronomy director, Anne Kinney, says the new solar panels will provide enough power to assure simultaneous operation of all Hubble instruments, which, she said, will allow a greater scientific return.

Astronauts expect to install new hardware later in the week to distribute power from the new solar wings. That operation will be the most risky because the space agency will have to turn off the telescope's entire electrical system for the first time while in orbit, which could damage some instruments.

The Hubble Telescope, launched in 1990, has sent back valuable pictures of stars, distant galaxies and other cosmic events.

Columbia was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on Friday and is due to land there on March 12.

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