Awesome! Hubble continues to operate, and its historic mission will continue the space journey

The Hubble Space Telescope was sidelined by its 1980s computer problems

"There is currently no set agenda as to when it will be completed, tested, and returned to operational status," the Hubble operations team said.

The Hubble Space Telescope shut down after problems with its payload computer in the 1980s. Team members worked to fix the problem and get the telescope working again. (Image credit: NASA)

NASA shared a statement with Space.com on the current state of Hubble: "The Hubble Operations team is working hard to resolve the payload computer problem on the Hubble Space Telescope. The team is collecting all available data in an effort to put The problem is dealt with individually to determine the best path for the computer to resume operation. At present, there is no clear arrangement for bringing the computer back online. However, the team, they are working hard to execute the best of many options to get the telescope back to scientific research status as soon as possible . Launched in 1990, the Hubble Telescope has contributed enormously to humanity's march toward the universe over the past 30 years."

NASA is swiftly repairing the Hubble Space Telescope after a computer glitch in the 1980s temporarily shut down the famous orbiting observatory.

The Hubble Space Telescope has come to an end, and 2020 will be the Hubble Space Telescope's 30th year in orbit. The reason was a problem with a telescope associated computer in the 1980s. According to a NASA statement, the Hubble operations team suspects the failure may have been caused by memory module degradation. The team is working to correct the problem, and they switched to one of the telescope's several backup modules.

The operations team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland told Space.com in an email: "Assuming this problem can be corrected with one of many options, Hubble is expected to continue producing amazing discoveries. , until the late 2020s or beyond.” However, they added: “It has not yet been determined when it will be completed, tested and returned to operational status.”

On Sunday, the telescope's main computer stopped receiving signals from the payload computer and sent an error message to ground systems on Earth that alerted the operations team that something was wrong.

"Analysis suggests the error may be due to degraded memory issues. Memory can degrade over time due to years of exposure to space radiation. Issues like this are to be expected, which is why the spacecraft has backup memory modules on board. "

The computer that stopped working was the payload computer that controlled the observatory's science instruments and was part of the telescope's science instrument control and data processing module. The last time the module was replaced was during the last astronaut maintenance observatory mission in 2009. The payload computer is the NASA Standard Spacecraft Computer-1 (NSSC-1) system, built in the 1980s.

"The payload computer is from the 1980s, when the Hubble telescope was designed and built. As with all spacecraft hardware, the harsh space environment can take its toll on electronics. That's why the spacecraft has backup memory modules and Back up the payload computer and we can switch if needed."

When Hubble shuts down, all instruments on Hubble's main computer are automatically put into safe mode, and NASA Goddard team members restart the computer. After restarting, however, the computer encountered the same problem that caused the initial shutdown.

"The memory modules on the spacecraft are currently being swapped," the operations team said. Once this process is complete and the spacecraft is thoroughly tested, it will resume normal operation.

This isn't the first time Hubble has encountered problems that need to be fixed. In the early days of the telescope, scientists discovered a bug in the telescope's pointing observation control system, as well as a problem with the shape of the primary mirror.

The first time the Hubble was repaired was in 1993, during NASA's space shuttle program, the Hubble repair mission has been ongoing. During these missions, astronauts dealt with a number of issues, including changing batteries and the gyroscopes that allow Hubble to stably point to distant points in the universe.

Hubble has also overcome some problems recently. For example, the telescope went into a protective "safe mode" after suffering an apparent software glitch, only to resume it a few days later.

BY:Chelsea Gohd

FY:jane

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