NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Lives On: Going To A Backup Hardware Fix issue

NASA’s beloved Hubble Space Telescope has faced one of its greatest challenges. A a technical issue left it in safe mode for over a month. This week, NASA says it has finally traced the source of the problem and tried a new fix, and it seems to have worked.

“NASA successfully switched to backup hardware on the Hubble Space Telescope, including powering up the backup payload computer on July 15,” the space agency said Friday.

The telescope has been in service for over 30 years. The Hubble team had viewed the payload computer – hardware dating from the 1980s – as the potential source of a memory problem. “A series of multi-day tests, which included attempts to restart and reconfigure the computer and the backup computer, were unsuccessful, but the information gathered from these activities led the team Hubble to determine that the possible cause of the problem is in the power control unit, ”said NASA.

As with the payload computer, the PCU is part of the control and data processing unit of Hubble’s scientific instruments. The PCU is responsible for providing a constant and stable source of electricity to the computer and its memory. Hubble is equipped with a number of backup systems, including a spare PCU.

Since the problem arose on June 13, Hubble’s scientific work has stalled. The switch to backup equipment should give the telescope new life. “The Hubble team is now monitoring the hardware to make sure everything is working properly,” NASA said. It will take more than a day to bring science instruments out of safe mode before normal science operations can resume.

NASA operates Hubble in partnership with the European Space Agency. “We are extremely happy to announce that Hubble is back online!” The ESA Hubble team tweeted Friday. “Kudos to the entire team who worked tirelessly to make this happen.”

There have been concerns about the aging telescope. His successor, the very late James Webb Space Telescope, is still there on Earth, awaiting a possible launch at the end of 2021.

Hubble overcame many technical issues in its day, and it looks like the venerable telescope will persevere through the latter. Wait, universe, Hubble is coming back.

Follow CNET’s 2021 space calendar to stay up to date with all the latest space news this year. You can even add it to your own Google Calendar.