Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SPACE SCOPES
Shuttle Repair Mission To Hubble Delayed Indefinitely
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Oct 30, 2008


US space agency NASA said Thursday it had indefinitely delayed a February shuttle mission to repair the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, which was back in business after a four-week break to fix transmission problems.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration also announced the next shuttle launch for November 14, when an Endeavour mission will deliver more equipment to the International Space Station.

The Hubble's instruments were suspended automatically on September 27 due to a technical problem with Side-A of its Science Data Formatter, a unit that stores and transmits data back to Earth.

NASA's Hubble team switched the Hubble space telescope over to its Side-B for the first time since it was launched 18 years ago, allowing it to collect data once again.

The telescope was brought back online on October 25, NASA said.

Hubble's glitch prompted NASA to postpone a long-awaited space shuttle mission to service and upgrade the orbital observatory until February, which now has been delayed.

"We now have done enough analysis of all the things that need to happen with the flight spare unit to know that we cannot be ready for a February launch," said NASA's Astrophysics Division Director Jon Morse.

The exact new target launch date for the Hubble mission by the Atlantis shuttle is under review, NASA said.

The upcoming repair mission is to be the fifth and final servicing call by space shuttle astronauts to the Hubble, which is due to function at least two more years until 2013 when the James Webb Space Telescope will be launched.

Orbiting 575 kilometers (360 miles) above Earth, Hubble launched in 1990 and has enabled scientists to better measure the age and origins of the universe, observe distant supernovas, and identify and study bodies inside and outside the solar system.

The Endeavour and a crew of seven astronauts will blast off from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 14 -- weather permitting -- with 6,577 kilograms (14,500 pounds) of supplies and equipment inside the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo to the ISS.

.


Related Links
Space Telescope News and Technology at Skynightly.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SPACE SCOPES
NASA Managers Delay Hubble Servicing Mission
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 31, 2008
NASA managers have announced that they will not meet a February 2009 launch date for the fifth and final shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The decision comes after engineers completed assessments of the work needed to get a second data handling unit for the telescope ready to fly. The unit will replace one that failed on Hubble in late September, causing the agency to postpone ... read more


SPACE SCOPES
Aspiring lunar entrepreneurs contract for help from NASA

India's Lunar Probe Sends Its First Pictures From Space

NASA Ames Collaborates To Develop Robotic Lunar Lander

ESA's Lunar Robotics Challenge

SPACE SCOPES
Phoenix Goes Quiet

Strange Martian Landforms Are Paleo Climate Clues

Phoenix Enters Safe Mode

NASA's Phoenix Mission Faces Survival Challenges

SPACE SCOPES
NASA, South Korea sign mutual statement

Harris' OS/COMET Product Chosen For Constellation Launch Control Program

Do We Need Oil From Outer Space

Astronauts To Vote From Space

SPACE SCOPES
Souped-Up Rockets For Shenzhou

China Successfully Launches Research Satellites

China To Launch FY-4 Weather Satellite Around 2013

Shenzhou 7 Astronauts In Good Health

SPACE SCOPES
Two US astronauts to cast votes from space

Expedition 17 Set To Undock Today

Expedition 18 Takes Charge

Expedition 18 Crew Docks With Space Station

SPACE SCOPES
Russia Starts Preparations To Launch US Telecoms Satellite

New ASTRA 1M Satellite Ready For Launch On 6 November

SPACEHAB Sees Opportunity In Space Florida's Launch Complex

First Ariane 5 For 2009 Arrives At The Spaceport

SPACE SCOPES
MIT Researchers Find Clues To Planets' Birth

Young Earthlike Planets May Glow Brightly Enough To Be Found

Exotic Weather On Distant Worlds

Tides Have Major Impact On Planet Habitability

SPACE SCOPES
Kazakh Satellite Brought Back Into Orbit

The Sky Isn't Falling And That's A Problem

Sarantel Antenna Featured In New Iridium 9555 Satellite Phone

NASA Launches IBEX Mission To Outer Solar System




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement