NASA: Hubble mission delayed until fall for fuel tank work

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's final visit to the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed at least a month, until the fall, because of extra time needed to build the shuttle fuel tanks needed for the flight and a potential rescue mission.

Atlantis and a crew of seven were supposed to fly to Hubble at the end of August, but now won't make the journey until the end of September or early October.

Shuttle program manager John Shannon said it's taken more time to incorporate all the post-Columbia design changes to the external fuel tanks than had been expected.

"It's a small price to pay to tell you the truth, four to five weeks, for all the improvements that we're getting on this tank," Shannon said Thursday.

The fuel tank for the next shuttle launch is the first to be built from scratch with the design changes. That work delayed Discovery's flight to the international space station from April until May 31. full story