NASA has re-operated the scientific instruments of the Hubble Space Telescope and will now resume the collection of scientific data. Credits: NASA / Smithsonian Institution / Lockheed Corporation. Public domain
After experiencing a technical problem on its payload computer that left the Hubble Space Telescope in “safe mode” for more than a month, NASA said it has successfully changed operations on its payload computer. backup.
“NASA has successfully switched to the Hubble Space Telescope’s backup hardware, including turning on the backup payload computer, on July 15.” announced the space agency on Friday.
After recalibrating some of the telescope’s instruments on Saturday, I was ready to start collecting data to improve our understanding of the universe, informs CNET.
As for when the telescope will emit its first impressive images to Earth from restart, the wait should be short.
“We look forward to the first observations over the weekend,” said James Jeletic, Hubble’s deputy director of projects. he told NPR. Given the time it takes to receive and process the data, he predicted, “you’d probably see the first images come out someday early next week.”
The iconic Hubble Telescope has been in service for over 30 years and was launched in 1990. It has taken more than 1.5 million observations from the universe and published more than 18,000 scientific articles with its data. according to NASA.
Working to find a solution to the telescope problem, the NASA team studied schemes of the original designs dating back decades. “We even brought in retirement people who are experts in these areas of Hubble to help us,” Jeletic said.
The successful reboot of the system, he added, “has a lot to say for the people who designed the spacecraft 40 years ago.”
