Hubble Space Telescope has gone into Safe Mode again

originally posted by: 2Faced
Although Hubble gaves us tremendous insights, I cant wait for the Webb telescope to become the new eye outwards.

I agree and if Webb does what Hubble has done, we will be looking at some amazing discoveries.

Latest update from NASA on Hubble's continuing problems has been posted today.

The Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys has continued collecting science data as NASA works to address the anomaly that started Oct 25. Missed synchronization messages halted science production at that time, and the team has identified no additional missed messages since monitoring began Nov. 1.

Hubble’s additional instruments have remained in safe mode while NASA takes steps to recover them to operational status. The rest of the telescope is operating as expected.

During the past week, the Hubble team has identified near-term changes that could be made to how the instruments monitor and respond to missed synchronization messages, as well as to how the payload computer monitors the instruments. This would allow science operations to continue even if several missed messages occur. The team has also continued analyzing the instrument flight software to verify that all possible solutions would be safe for the instruments.

This upcoming week, the team will begin to determine the order to recover the remaining instruments, including schedules for changing the instrument parameters before testing and developing the procedures. They also will test these changes to ensure they work as planned while continuing to isolate the root cause of the error.

The team expects it will take several weeks to complete these activities for the first instrument. The team has not yet determined which instrument would receive these changes first. In the meantime, they will start taking steps to recover Wide Field Camera 3 with no new changes next week, as was done with the Advanced Camera for Surveys, as an interim and low-risk step toward resuming normal science operations.
www.nasa.gov...

a reply to: gortex

Thanks for the update. Sounds like an important few weeks for the Hubble - fingers crossed they’re successful.

Hubble is now returning to full science operations , all of the science instruments are working and no further synchronization message issues .

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope team recovered the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on Monday, Dec. 6, and is now operating with all four active instruments collecting science. The team has still not detected any further synchronization message issues since monitoring began Nov. 1.

The team will continue work on developing and testing changes to instrument software that would allow them to conduct science operations even if they encounter several lost synchronization messages in the future. The first of these changes is scheduled to be installed on the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph in mid-December. The other instruments will receive similar updates in the coming months.

Hubble has been operating now for over 31 years, collecting ground-breaking science observations that have changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. With the launch of the Webb Telescope planned for later this month, NASA expects the two observatories will work together well into this decade, expanding our knowledge of the cosmos even further.
www.nasa.gov...

Good news.