DENVER -- Equipment designed at CU and built by Boulder's Ball Aerospace bound for the Hubble Space Telescope will remain on Earth a few months longer than planned. The 70-million dollar instrument package was supposed to blast off on the Space Shuttle Atlantis early in October.

But a faulty piece of communication equipment aboard Hubble malfunctioned and NASA decided to delay the mission until a replacement could be made ready.

After a decade of work and numerous delays, scientists at CU's Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy were excitedly awaiting NASA's shuttle mission to install the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on Hubble.

The COS works like a fancy and very complicated prism to analyze light in interstellar space. It's designed to study the origins of the universe, the formation of galaxies and evolution of stellar and planetary systems.

Now, CU scientists say they'll have to wait about five months for the next mission to Hubble. They say it's a wait they can handle after a decade of hard work.

On a personal note, I'd like to wish readers of Mace in Space a fond farewell. This will be my last entry in this space. I have taken the Chief Meteorologist position at KGPE in Fresno, California.

I would like to thank you for reading this blog and watching 7 News.

I would also like to extend a fond farewell and my thanks to Chief Meteorologist Mike Nelson and the 7 News weather team of Richard Ortner and Lisa Hidalgo. Keep up the great work!

Evening Planets:

Venus sets about an hour after sunset during the beginning of the month and nearly two hours after sunset by Halloween! Venus passes through the head of Scorpius on Oct. 20 and crosses north of Antares Oct. 26. Venus closes in on Jupiter over the next two months

Jupiter is in the south to southwest at dusk. In the month's last week Jupiter moves past the star Pi in the 'Teaspoon' above the 'Teapot' of Sagittarius.

Mars sets in the west-southwest and is difficult to spot.

Morning Planets:

Saturn rises just north of east two hours before sunrise Oct. 1 and it rises four hours before sunrise by month's end. Saturn begins the month low in the east and climbs in the east-southeast by the end of the month.

Mercury rises just south of east in morning twilight by Oct. 12. Mercury climbs daily and brightens rapidly.

Moon:

New Moon: Sept. 29

First quarter: Oct. 7

Full Moon: Oct. 14 Full Moon Names: Hunter's Moon, Travel Moon, Dying Grass Moon

Last quarter: Oct. 21

New Moon: Oct. 28

This month in space history:

NASA celebrates a 50th birthday this month. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration formally opened for business on Oct. 1, 1958.