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The Hubble Space Telescope is back in business after a month of problems, but preparing spare equipment to keep the orbital observatory running will force NASA to delay its final servicing mission beyond February, officials said.
The agency released an image taken by the telescope's Wide Field Planetary Camera showing a pair of gravitationally locked galaxies, located more than 400 million light years away in the constellation (1) Cetus.
It was Hubble's first picture since a computer problem shut down science operations in September. During the attempt to switch over to a backup system earlier last month, a problem with another computer again shut down the observatory.
But engineers were finally able to sort out the glitches, allowing astronomers to train Hubble's eye on the pair of galaxies known as Arp 147.
Hubble's problems prompted NASA to delay the October launch of space shuttle Atlantis and seven astronauts on a final house call to upgrade Hubble.
The mission had been rescheduled for February, but NASA said replacement equipment will not be ready in time to make that date. NASA now hopes to be able to fly its final mission to Hubble in May.
Because it orbits outside the Earth's atmosphere, Hubble's cameras can take extremely sharp images. NASA at one point was planning to abandon the telescope, which is hugely popular among astronomers. The agency relented after a public outcry.
In 2013, the (2) James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to replace Hubble.
Reuters
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