NASA working to fix downed Hubble Space Telescope

Tethered to the end of the remote manipulator system arm, which was controlled from inside Atlantis' crew cabin, STS-125 astronaut Andrew Feustel navigates near the Hubble Space Telescope, duing the mission's third spacewalk on May 16, 2009. Astronaut John Grunsfeld signals to his crewmate from just a few feet away. Astronauts Feustel and Grunsfeld were continuing servicing work on the giant observatory, which was locked down in the cargo bay of shuttle Atlantis. less

Tethered to the end of the remote manipulator system arm, which was controlled from inside Atlantis' crew cabin, STS-125 astronaut Andrew Feustel navigates near the Hubble Space Telescope, duing the mission's ... more
Photo: Internal

Photo: Internal

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Tethered to the end of the remote manipulator system arm, which was controlled from inside Atlantis' crew cabin, STS-125 astronaut Andrew Feustel navigates near the Hubble Space Telescope, duing the mission's third spacewalk on May 16, 2009. Astronaut John Grunsfeld signals to his crewmate from just a few feet away. Astronauts Feustel and Grunsfeld were continuing servicing work on the giant observatory, which was locked down in the cargo bay of shuttle Atlantis. less

Photo: Internal

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.

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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