CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Hubble Space Telescope should be back in action soon, following a tricky, remote repair job by NASA.
The orbiting observatory went dark in mid-June, with all astronomical viewing halted. NASA initially suspected computer trouble. But after the backup payload computer also failed, flight controllers focused on the science instruments' bigger command and data unit, installed by spacewalking astronauts in 2009.
Engineers successfully switched to the backup equipment Thursday. NASA said Friday that science observations should resume quickly, if everything goes well. Launched in 1990, Hubble has made more than 1.5 million observations of the universe.
