The iconic Hubble Space Telescope has closed its digital camera eye unexpectedly once more.
The science devices on the long-lasting telescope went right into a protecting secure mode on Monday (Oct. 25) “after experiencing synchronization issues with internal spacecraft communications,” Hubble crew members said via Twitter Monday (Oct. 25).
“Science observations have been temporarily suspended while the team investigates the issue. The instruments remain in good health,” they added.
Related: The best Hubble Space Telescope images of all time!
Hubble, a joint mission of NASA and the European Space Agency, launched into Earth orbit in April 1990 and has been exhibiting some indicators of its superior age. For instance, the observatory went offline for greater than a month this previous summer season after struggling a glitch with its main payload computer. The crew managed to get Hubble up and working once more in July after switching to backup hardware.
The present difficulty might not be fairly so critical, because it apparently impacts simply Hubble’s science devices and never your complete observatory. But we’ll have to attend for extra updates to study extra.
Hubble’s lengthy and storied historical past is filled with hurdles overcome and challenges met. The observatory famously launched with a flawed major mirror, for instance, a significant issue that spacewalking astronauts mounted in December 1993.
Astronauts maintained and upgraded Hubble on 4 extra servicing missions, the final of which launched in 2009. Such consideration helps clarify how the scope has managed to remain so productive for thus lengthy.
NASA is gearing as much as launch what it payments as Hubble’s successor, the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope. Webb, which is optimized to view the heavens in infrared mild, is scheduled to raise off atop an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket on Dec. 18.
Webb will head to the Earth-sun Lagrange Point 2, a gravitationally steady spot about 930,000 miles (1 million kilometers) from our planet. It was not designed with astronaut servicing in thoughts.
Mike Wall is the writer of “Out There” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a guide concerning the seek for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
