Date for shuttle flight to Hubble in jeopardy

[September 18, 2008]  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- The October launch date of NASA's shuttle flight to the Hubble Space Telescope is in jeopardy because of a problem with the replacement batteries for the telescope.

The telescope equipment was supposed to be loaded onto the shuttle Atlantis on Friday, with no time to spare for an Oct. 10 liftoff. That loading operation will be delayed at least 24 hours, NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said Wednesday.

Engineers discovered that crucial insulation on the batteries was accidentally knocked off and blown around by the cleaning system.

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On the Net:

NASA: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

[Associated Press]

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