NASA, the company that runs Hubble, initially revealed that the instruments had gotten in safe mode by means of a tweet from the official Hubble account on October 25th. The underlying cause seems a “synchronization error” that suggested the instruments could not sync up to collect data effectively. It also indicated that the instruments “stay in good health.”
Hubble is getting a bit long in the tooth. Now the instruments on the telescope have been operating in a “safe mode” for more than a week, and it appears that they will stay so for at least another one.
Hubble is getting a bit long in the tooth. Now the instruments on the telescope have been running in a “safe mode” for more than a week, and it appears that they will stay so for at least another one.
Hubble is accountable for a few of the most remarkable images in all of astronomy, such as the eXtreme Deep Field went over in this video.
After suspending clinical operations for a week, the company released a news release offering more context to the issue and a prospective timeline for resolution. At 1:45 AM EDT on October 23rd, the telescope experienced a synchronization mistake. NASA engineers understand well the very first guideline of repairing electronics, so they restarted the instruments, and the issue appeared to vanish.
That is exactly what the NASA engineers are doing. The agency estimates that it will take another week of fixing to find a prospective repair to whatever may be triggering the synchronization problems.
STS61 was the very first servicing objective to the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA
This is yet another string of issues with NASAs most well-known telescope just this year. A botched software application upgrade took it down for a couple of days in March, while a malfunctioning computer system required operators to switch to a backup copy, causing five weeks of downtime back in June-July of this year.
Researchers are still optimistic for Hubbles future, however. There are strategies to continue its operation as one of NASAs flagship telescopes until the 2030s. Increasing varieties of maintenance issues may put a dent in those plans, but with luck, Hubble will still be producing awesome images for another decade or two.
Find out more: NASA– Hubble Instruments Remain in Safe Mode, NASA Team InvestigatingSpaceNews– Hubble remains in safe mode after newest glitchSciTechDaily– Glitches Send Hubble Space Telescope Into Safe Mode– NASA Team InvestigatingUT– No News Here, Just a Beautiful Globular Cluster Captured by Hubble. That is all.
Lead Image: Hubble floating in open space.Credit– NASA
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NASA engineers understand well the very first guideline of fixing electronic devices, so they restarted the instruments, and the issue seemed to disappear.
Increasing numbers of upkeep issues might put a damage in those plans, however with luck, Hubble will still be producing breathtaking images for another years or so.