Hubble down, Repair mission delayed

[Integral]

Due to a http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.hubble30sep30,0,7125042.story" , Hubble has been silenced.

 

[vincentm]

Well that just sucks.

 

[Astronuc]

NASA Releases New Hubble Picture.
NASA released a picture, often described as "stunning," to show that the telescope was up and running again. At the same conference, NASA announced the needed repair unit would not be ready until at least May, delaying the last repair mission until then. Most articles mention both topics. Only the Orlando Sentinel and the AP mention that this delay will hold up the Ares test flight as well.

ABC World News (10/30, story 7, :15, Gibson) reported, "The Hubble space telescope is up and running again, and capturing breathtaking new images. The 18-year-old telescope just sent back this picture of two ring-shaped galaxies what you're looking at is 440 million light-years from Earth."

The New York Times (10/31, Overbye) website reports, "After an electrical malfunction caused it to go dormant a month ago, the Hubble Space Telescope is back in business. But the space shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble has been pushed back again, NASA officials said Thursday." NASA released an image of the pair of galaxies known as Arp 174 from the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 to show it is operating. "According to Mario Livio, of the space telescope institute, one of the galaxies passed through the other, causing a circular wave." The new router unit for the Hubble "would not be ready for a hoped-for February launching, and...the mission would be pushed back to May."

The Washington Post (10/31, A8, Kaufman) quotes Hubble program manager Preston Burch as saying that "the newly restored capabilities on the Hubble should hold up until astronauts can reach the observatory next year." The Space Telescope Science Institute called the image a "perfect 10" and was the equal of those taken before the system shut down. "The Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys is also working again but is able to pick up only ultraviolet light, said Space Telescope Institute spokesman Ray Villard. The visible light capability went out a while ago." According to the Post, the issue with the router "is significant enough that NASA's Astrophysics Division Director Jon Morse said it is possible that the repair...mission would be scrubbed if the third formatter cannot be brought up to specifications. But he said he remains confident that the instrument...will be fully restored."

The Baltimore Sun (10/31, Roylance) reports, "The new Hubble image of Arp 147 was taken Monday and Tuesday, combining three separate images made with different filters." The AP (10/31) reports that another camera "still needs time before it can start running again, but it should be working by early next month, Villard said."

Just a couple of days after the orbiting observatory was brought back online, Hubble aimed its prime working camera, the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), at a particularly intriguing target, a pair of gravitationally interacting galaxies called Arp 147.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/hst_img_20081030.html

NASA Managers Delay Hubble Servicing Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/oct/HQ_08-280_HST_Delay.html

WASHINGTON -- 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 the servicing mission, which had been targeted for Oct. 14.

"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 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The February date was an initial estimate, assuming minimal hardware preparations and test durations that are no longer viewed as realistic. We've communicated our assessment to the Space Shuttle Program so it can adjust near-term plans. We will work closely with the Shuttle Program to develop details for a new launch opportunity."
. . . .

 

[Chronos]

Thanks for that very nice link, Astronuc.