Hubble's main camera dies a death

[Rick]

Hubble's main camera, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACFS), has shut down following an electrical failure.

The camera went offline last year after a problem with its power supply. That was eventually resolved, but this time most of the the damage looks permanent: NASA says only one of the ACFS's three sub-cameras is likely to be restored.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/30/acfs_dies/

[Whitters]

On Saturday 27 January, Hubble's main camera, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), stopped working. Until a solution, at least in part, can be found, Hubble will work with its remaining instruments.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMGAPSMTWE_index_0.html

[Mike]

I hope it's still under warranty.

[Rick]

...or there won't be anything worth servicing by the time the servicing mission is ready to go.

[Rick]

...though the BBC report is more optimistic, saying:

Hubble is due to receive a new camera during a planned servicing mission by space shuttle in 2008.

This should recover all of the capability lost in the latest failure.

"The successful completion of [the shuttle mission] and insertion of Wide Field Camera-3 (WFC3) will take us fully back to not only where we are now, but where we want [the telescope] to be in the future," said David Leckrone, Nasa's senior project scientist on Hubble.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6312091.stm