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Trouble on Hubble Space Telescope may delay Atlantis launch
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The Hubble Space telescope lost the use of its primary "phone home" device this weekend, a problem that could delay the already-postponed launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis and its seven-member crew. Kennedy Space Center Director Bill Parsons acknowledged the problem during a space industry forum this morning in Cocoa, FL.
NASA managers are meeting now to discuss options to deal with the crisis. For 18 years, the unit has reliably processed science data, compiled it into a usable format for scientists back on Earth, and shipped it home.
Although there's a backup unit, the primary data controller has been so successful that its replacement has never been taken off the bench. There's already a jam-packed schedule for the upcoming Hubble servicing mission, recently bumped to Oct. 14 after Hurricane Ike closed Johnson Space Center for a week.
The astronauts do their in-flight training at JSC. The STS-125 mission includes five spacewalks to upgrade Hubble, tasks that have taken years of training.
Because Endeavour is also on the launch pad, being prepped to serve as an emergency rescue vehicle for the Atlantis mission, any delay in the STS-125 mission could have a domino effect on the STS-126 mission.
Right now, Hubble controllers plan to work with the backup unit over the next few days. NASA officials at KSC told me this morning that meetings are in progress now, and more details will be available later.
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