NASA managers delay Atlantis launch scheduling review as Hubble trouble escalates

The trouble aboard the Hubble Space Telescope is so serious that NASA managers have delayed the Flight Readiness Review for the STS-125 Atlantis mission. The meeting, used to give the final go-ahead for a launch date and mission operations, had been planned for Oct. 2-3.

The problems with Hubble's primary data controller, which shut down this weekend may impact both the Atlantis and Endeavour missions. Instead of winding up 2008 with two missions, NASA may find itself on hold until the New Year.  In addition, several planned observations  by Hubble scientific instruments have now been canceled.

In mid-September, Hubble encountered  equipment problems with a cooling system for one camera, the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). Engineers have turned off the cooling system to allow it to gradually heat back up over the next few weeks.

Whether or not the cooling system can be recycled before the crew of STS-125 works on Hubble in October isn't yet known. The team already has a full schedule that includes five spacewalks in 11 days.

The cumulative effect of the current problem, the NICMOS cooling system flaw, and the delays caused by successive tropical storms have presented NASA managers with a virtual storm of scheduling and flight readiness difficulties. At Kennedy Space Center, technicians replaced a troublesome pressure sensor on one of Atlantis's  solid rocket boosters at the pad without impacting the launch schedule.  Ground crews also struggled with a short-term problem when the Hubble payload canister didn't fit correctly into the service structures that loaded it into the shuttle's payload bay.

But the current Hubble hardware problems are casting a long shadow. over the shuttle flight calendar. This is a developing story. Please check back for later updates.

Photo: astronauts work n Hubble on an earlier servicing mission./NASA