NASA says its Galaxy Evolution Explorer space telescope has lost one of its two ultraviolet detectors, but is still exploring nearby and distant galaxies.

The space telescope was launched in April 2003 for a planned 29-month mission to measure the history of star formation in the universe. It has now lasted three times its design lifespan.

"The remaining, near-ultraviolet detector is still busy probing galaxies both nearby and distant," said Kerry Erickson, the mission's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. "We've got lots of science data coming down from space."

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer was launched into space from a jet aircraft and for four years of its primary mission it mapped tens of millions of galaxies in ultraviolet light, some as far back as 10 billion years in cosmic time.

The California Institute of Technology is responsible for the telescope's science operations and data analysis. JPL manages the mission and assembled the science instrument.

Additional information about the Galaxy Evolution Explorer is available at http://www.nasa.gov/galex and http://www.galex.caltech.edu.