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NASA has admitted that the main camera on the Hubble Space Telescope has conked out once again and is unlikely to be fully functional in future. The Advanced Camera for Surveys is Hubble's primary camera and although scientists can do their work from the other instruments, the shutting down of the ACS has been termed a "great loss." NASA scientists revealed that the camera might be restored to just about one-third of its original functionality by the middle of February. NASA said that routine activities were expected to resume later in the week using other instruments. This is the third time in less than a year that the ailing telescope has seen a power outage.
Spokesman Preston Burch said that they were disappointed with the ACS failure. "The telescope, however, is still a very robust facility and has significant science capability and we will continue to make the best of its capabilities," he added. It is reported that two of the camera's elements, or channels, have been blinded and the only way of repairing them will be by sending astronauts on a space shuttle. Burch said that though such a mission was planned on September 2008, repair of the channels was unlikely as such an attempt would be difficult due to faulty power sources. However he added that the solar blind channel could be turned on by mid-February. David Leckrone, a senior scientist at the Hubble program, said that the repair mission will install an instrument that has been designed as a back-up for the survey camera. Meanwhile astronomers who would have used the two dark channels of the survey camera for their research projects will be asked whether they can make use of some other instruments on the telescope.
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