NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory bounces after a glitch

One of NASA's space telescopes will no longer be left out.

Chandra's X-ray observatory went into secure protection mode on Wednesday (Oct. 10), as one of its gyroscopes now guidance was put on the back burner, officials said. NASA today (October 15). This problem caused the spacecraft to collect 3 seconds of erroneous data, which made the onboard computer confusing.

Once the problem is identified, a solution is at hand. [Our X-Ray Universe: Amazing Photos by NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory]

"The team has completed its project of permutation of gyroscopes and storage of the gyroscope which has known this little problem," NASA officials wrote in a statement. "Once configured with a series of pre-tested flight software fixes, the team will hand Chandra over to the scientific operations, which should begin next week."

Chandra has far exceeded its initial five-year life; Since 1999, Chandra has made many important contributions, helping astronomers to identify a new class of "intermediate mass" black holes, for example, and imagining shock waves emanating from supernova explosions.

Chandra is part of the NASA Great Observatories program, which launched four powerful space telescopes from 1990 to 2003: the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) in 1991, and the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2003.

CGRO was intentionally desorbed in 2000 after a gyroscope failure. Hubble is currently in safe mode with its own gyroscope problems, although NASA officials have expressed optimism about the forthcoming launch of the iconic telescope.

Spitzer pursues his mission in an extended mission.

Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there" will be published on November 13 by Grand Central Publishing. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally published on Space.com.