The Hubble Space Telescope has been out of commission since Friday, though NASA has said personnel are working diligently to fix the mechanical problem.
Hubble has been in space for nearly three decades and considered the most significant astronomical advance since Galileo's telescope in the 1600s, according to NASA. It also was the first optical telescope in space.
Space agency scientists have been searching for ways to keep Hubble working as it's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, continues to experience delays. Initially expected to launch in 2007, James Webb now has been delayed until March 2021 -- assuming it has get Congressional approval to continue.
ANOTHER DELAY: The launch of NASA's James Webb Telescope won't happen until March 2021.
But on Friday, NASA put Hubble in "safe mode" after the failure of an instrument that keeps the telescope pointed accurately for extended periods of time, according to a Monday morning post on Hubble's twitter account.
"Mission experts are taking steps to return Hubble to great science," the post stated.
Hubble has experienced problems in the past, but astronauts have always been able to fix the problem during service missions to the telescope that orbits Earth. In fact, there were five services between 1993 and 2009. For more information on those missions, visit NASA's website here.
But those were in the days of space shuttle, when America had it own launch vehicle and could make trips to Hubble when necessary. The space shuttle program was shuttered in 2011, however, and we now rely on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry our astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.
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