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The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 (file).
Washington:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said Friday that the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been gazing at the universe for more than 30 years, has been malfunctioning over the past few days.
The US space agency said the problem was a laptop that stopped working last Sunday.
She insisted that the telescope itself and accompanying science instruments were “in good health”.
“The purpose of the computer is to control, coordinate, and monitor scientific instruments for health and safety purposes,” NASA said.
An attempt to restart it on Monday failed.
NASA said preliminary evidence points to a degraded computer memory module as the source of the computer’s problem. An attempt to switch to a spare memory module also failed.
Useful computer technology dates back to the 1980s, and was replaced during maintenance in 2009.
Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope revolutionized the world of astronomy and changed our view of the universe as it sent images of the solar system, the Milky Way, and distant galaxies.
A new, more powerful telescope, called the James Webb Space Telescope, is due to be deployed late this year. It is designed to delve deeper into the universe than ever before.
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