NASA's efforts to obtain the patient Hubble Space Telescope working again have hit a snag, and engineers are trying to figure out their next step. Officials had hoped to have the 18-year-old observatory back in business Friday, after it stopped sending pictures three weeks ago. However, a couple of problems that arose on Thursday and now the recovery operations are on hold.
Flight controllers at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, began the long process of restoration of data transmission on Wednesday. Everything was going well until late Thursday afternoon.
The problems posed by one of Hubble's cameras and the command and data handling system of instruments for science, said NASA spokeswoman Susan Hendrix. That system is not the end of last month and has prevented the telescope to capture and transmit the data used to create the stunning images of the cosmos that Hubble is known.
Because of the damage, NASA delayed its final Hubble repair mission by shuttle astronauts are set for October. The mission will not happen until at least February, possibly later.
The recovery effort that involved switching to a backup channel for the command and data processing system that had been dormant since the telescope was launched in 1990.
Hendrix said it was too early to know the seriousness of the most recent.
"If it is an error of command and to figure out, then you can bring a backup," said Hendrix. "But if it is more serious, we're going to need a little more time to solve problems."
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