Science

BALTIMORE (AP) — The operators of the Hubble Space Telescope say the orbiting observatory has snapped photos of an approaching comet.

The Baltimore-based Space Telescope Science Institute says the Comet Ison is being called the "comet of the century" because it could be brighter than the full moon when it makes its closest pass by the sun in late November.

The institute says the pictures taken earlier this month show the comet slightly inside of Jupiter's orbit, about 386 million miles from the sun. The institute serves as the science operations center for the Hubble.

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. (AP) — A private company contracted by NASA to make supply runs to the International Space Station scrubbed a Wednesday test launch of an unmanned rocket, saying cables linked to the rocket's second stage apparently detached too early in blustery winds.

The towering Antares rocket had been scheduled to blast off Wednesday afternoon from Wallops Island on Virginia's Eastern Shore when the countdown clock was halted 12 minutes before a 5 p.m. launch window was to have opened.