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The Hubble Space Telescope at the boundary of Earth and space in an image taken after the second Hubble Service mission in 1997. NASA
NASA is working to save its precious space telescope, the Hubble, after a mysterious computer problem caused it to go offline last week.
Hubble blasted off into space in 1990 and immediately began capturing the universe in revolutionary detail. The Earth-orbiting observatory has photographed the birth and death of stars, discovered new moons around Pluto, and tracked two interstellar objects as they pass through our solar system. It allowed astronomers to calculate the age and expansion of the universe. It spotted galaxies more than 13.4 billion light-years away, thus catching light from the early years of the universe.
But the computer carrying the payload of the telescope suddenly stopped working on June 13. This computer, built in the 1980s, is similar to Hubble’s brain – it controls and monitors all the scientific instruments on the spacecraft. So NASA engineers quickly analyzed the data from the telescope to determine the problem.
They still haven’t figured out why the computer stopped working. NASA tried to restart it on June 14, but failed. Initial data indicated that the problem might stem from a computer memory module that was degraded, so the Hubble team tried switching to one of three backup modules aboard the telescope. But the command to start the new unit did not work.
On Thursday, the Hubble team once again attempted to bring both the current unit and the backup online. Both attempts failed.
NASA said in an update Friday that the Hubble operations team will now “run tests and gather more information about the system to further isolate the problem.”
Meanwhile, Hubble’s science instruments are in “safe mode” like hibernation. NASA said Friday that they are all in good health, and so is the telescope itself.
The story continues
The Hubble telescope has a second payload computer that should be able to switch to it if NASA can’t restore the current one.
Hubble has undergone many reforms and improvements during its thirty years
This isn’t the first time Hubble has malfunctioned or needed an upgrade — not even the first time this year. In March, a software bug sent the observatory into safe mode. But within a week, NASA fixed the problem and restarted the telescope.
Hubble is the first telescope designed for service in orbit. Astronauts have visited the observatory to fix problems or replace old parts on five occasions.
Hubble’s most recent service mission, in 2009, fixed two malfunctioning instruments and gave the telescope a new computer, new batteries, new insulation, a new camera, and a spectrometer.
On the Hubble Space Telescope’s first maintenance mission, astronauts fitted an array of specialized lenses to correct a defective main mirror. NASA
By replacing or upgrading old parts in this way, it gave Hubble astronauts new capabilities. This is why the telescope is still leading science 30 years after its launch. However, NASA is unlikely to send astronauts to address the latter problem because a backup computer should be able to fix it.
NASA also plans to launch a more advanced space telescope into orbit in November. The new observatory, called the James Webb Space Telescope, will have a field of view approximately 15 times that of Hubble.
Although the JWST telescope is not intended to be a replacement for Hubble, the old space telescope cannot last forever. During the 2009 mission, astronauts also installed a device that could propel Hubble into Earth’s atmosphere when it was time to turn the telescope off. When the observatory falls toward Earth, the friction will heat up until it burns. It is unclear when this may be necessary.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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