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Hubble Trouble Delays Shuttle Mission

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Sep 29, 2008 12:11 pm US/Central

Hubble Trouble Delays Shuttle Mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (CBS) ― A malfunction onboard Hubble Space Telescope could delay an upcoming space shuttle mission in which astronauts were going to upgrade the orbiting telescope.

NASA says the telescope stopped transmitting science data on Saturday.

A shuttle team was set to launch on October 14 for a mission to repair the aging telescope and perform an upgrade. NASA managers plan to review whether the mission should be delayed a couple of months so that plans can be made to send up a replacement part for the failed component.

"It would take time to test and qualify the old replacement part and train the astronauts to install it in the telescope," said said NASA spokesman Michael Curie. "The teams are always looking at contingencies, and this is just something that has cropped up we have the ability to deal with."

Curie stressed that the telescope is not in trouble; it's just that it cannot send science information to ground controllers. That means NASA is unable to receive the dramatic pictures Hubble is known for.

The mission by Atlantis and a seven-person crew would be the fifth and final servicing mission to Hubble.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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