Hubble trouble...

www.space.com/missionlaunches/080929-hubble-glitch.html

It looks like it happened at a good time, so there is time to get it fixed during the next shuttle service mission. It's testament to the design that it worked fine continuously for so many years and is only breaking down now.

That's assuming they know what the problem is and that they can then get spare parts (if they exist) over to the shuttle *and* train the astronauts to change-out the broken piece(s). I'm not sure what their launch window is but it could be cutting it fine...

What perhaps is more ominous is the question of whether anything else is due to go belly up. Imagine they had done the service mission and this piece had failed a few weeks later - that would have been the death knell for Hubble.

I bet they're asking questions as to whether the service mission should go ahead at all given the special precautions in case the shuttle fails and the questionable robustness of Hubble. Its a real kick in the pants I'd bet... Here's hoping it all turns out OK...