Hubble Telescope Upgrade On Hold

A long-delayed project to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope will now have to wait until NASA completes delivery of three modules to the International Space Station, officials said on Tuesday.

The delay of the launch of the Atlantis shuttle mission to the space station, caused by fuel sensor failures in December, means the mission will not be ready for the August launch. There are two other higher-priority flights for NASA’s shuttles as well.

NASA’s associate administrator for science missions, Alan Stern, told reporters “Our watchword is safety,” in a conference call from the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, Texas.

The delivery of Europe’s Columbus laboratory module to the space station in early December were canceled when emergency engine cutoff sensors failed during routine checks before liftoff. January 24 was set as the new launch date, but NASA doesn’t expect the shuttle to be ready until February.

Two more missions to launch Japan’s Kibo laboratory complex to the station must be finished before a shuttle crew can be dispatched to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, Stern said.

Even while the Hubble telescope is still operational, it has limited steering capabilities due to gyroscope failures and two of its science instruments are busted. Besides the repairs, NASA also wants to replace Hubble’s batteries, put on new insulation and extend its view of the universe with two new detectors, and a very sensitive, wide-field camera.

The new upgrades should extend the life of the telescope five to ten years. Without servicing, the Hubble would likely only last until 2010 or 2011, according to project scientist David Leckrone of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Astronomer Sandra Faber with the University of California, Santa Cruz, expects the Hubble to be 90 times more powerful than its original state, once the upgrades are done. "We can do more science," she said. "Instead of looking at 10 galaxies, we can look at 900 at the same time."

The Hubble has been in orbit for nearly 18 years and among its prime discoveries include that the universe is expanded faster than previously thought. It was originally predicted that the universe was slowing in expansion.