Hubble Glitch Delays NASA Repair Mission

A repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed after the apparatus stopped transmitting data Friday, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Shuttle crews will be retrained to deal with the new problem, and the launch rescheduled so NASA can have a second shuttle ready in case a rescue mission is needed.

Because the Hubble orbits Earth farther out than the International Space Station, NASA prefers to have a backup shuttle. Astronauts were already prepared to make numerous spacewalks to service the telescope; now, they need to be trained to carry out another, to remove and replace the malfunctioning unit. (More NASA stories.)