December 23, 2024

NASA returns Hubble Space Telescope back to full science operations

NASA has taken the Hubble Space Telescope back online after a recent problem. (Image credit: NASA)Hubble is back in business.The Hubble Space Telescope is as soon as again fully functional after a glitch took its science instruments offline. The Other Day (Dec. 6), NASAs Hubble group recuperated the observatorys Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, the last of the telescopes instruments to be taken online after the current issues, the company announced today (Dec. 7). “The group will continue work on developing and testing modifications to instrument software that would permit them to carry out science operations even if they come across several lost synchronization messages in the future,” NASA wrote in the announcement.Related: The best Hubble Space Telescope images of all timeIn late October, Hubble experienced a problem with the synchronization of its internal communications. This took all four of the scopes science instruments offline and momentarily made Hubble operational. The first of the instruments to come back online, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), was functional once again by Nov. 7, while the four staying instruments remained in a “safe mode” for protection.The Hubble group will continue work to prevent such concerns in the future, and the first such modification will be a software upgrade set up to be set up in mid-December on Hubbles Cosmic Origins Spectrograph instrument. Hubbles other science instruments will also receive software updates in the coming months, NASA stated in the statement. Hubble will soon be signed up with in area by another powerful telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, a cooperation between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Webb observes in infrared so it can make distinct observations that complement those of Hubble. “With the launch of the Webb Telescope prepared for later on this month, NASA anticipates the 2 observatories will collaborate well into this years, expanding our understanding of the cosmos even further,” NASA added in the announcement.Email Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.