Reuters, UK: For Aging Hubble, Basic Questions About Universe

Update: Aging Hubble loses focus, keeps recounting same information about Star System

Greenbelt, MD— NASA researchers disclosed recent problem with the Hubble Space telescope this morning, admitting that the telescope, in service since 1990, has begun to show signs of age, losing focus on the outer limits of the universe in favor of stars within nearby galaxies. Mark S. Hess, Chief of Public Affairs at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center stated “Every time we train the steering system to give us pictures of distant stars, it resets itself on the North American Nebula or on the Swan Nebula and it keeps feeding us the same data… old stuff about that Rayleigh-Taylor Instability it found in the Eagle Nebula back in 1996.” Hess added that “Its nice to review old data from time to time but really, we just wish that the telescope would get on with it.” In addition to tracking problems, the telescope has shown signs of trouble with its Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and Multi-Object Spectrometer, both of which have abandoned their standard spectra in favor of spurious readings that have, in the words of one astronomer “A tinge closer to Astroturf or maybe rayon golfing pants— something that we’ve never seen before” Goddard engineers plan to conduct a robotic servicing mission within the next two years “The robot will replace some of the Hubble batteries” said Hess, “.. and I hope that we cover the transceiver batteries because we are tired of boosting high power transmission sequences just to send simple instructions.”

- posted by JB @ 7:14 PM