US shuttle glitches may delay Hubble mission: NASA

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A US shuttle mission to repair the Hubble space telescope this year could be delayed due to the postponement of last month's Atlantis launch, a NASA official said Tuesday.

Astronauts on Atlantis are scheduled to repair and modernize Hubble in August. But technical glitches that have delayed the shuttle's current mission since early December may also put the August operation on hold, associate administrator Alan Stern told reporters.

"That's dependent upon the shuttle flights between now and the servicing mission" for Hubble, he said in a telephone conference. "Our watchword is safety."

The National Space and Aeronautics Administration (NASA) called off last month's launch, on a mission to the International Space Station, after finding...