NATION : Hubble Scope Not Seeing Stars

WASHINGTON — The Hubble Space Telescope failed to lock onto any stars during an initial attempt to focus its mirrors, possibly delaying the observatory’s first picture until the end of the week, an official said today.

NASA engineers were unable to locate and lock onto stars in five attempts with the 12-ton telescope during a 38-hour focusing process that began Saturday, said spokesman John Dumoulin of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

“They didn’t get a lock in any of the attempts,” said Dumoulin. “There are a lot of theories why.”

The failure means ground controllers will probably repeat the process, he said. Last week officials said they hoped to take the telescope’s first picture between Wednesday and Friday, depending on whether the process needed repeating.