NASA’s legendary Hubble Space Telescope seems to be in huge trouble. As per an update from the space agency, both Hubble’s main payload computer and the backup computer have run into the same issue.
In other words, the space telescope might be coming to the end of its operations. Since the last update about the telescope was provided a few days back, it seems the space agency is running out of options to fix the Hubble telescope.
Is this the end of the Hubble era?
There’s a possibility that Hubble may be out of action for a long time. Paul Hertz, director of NASA’s astrophysics division, during a meeting, said that NASA will be “very deliberate” in their analysis of the computer glitch, quoted by Jeff Foust, SpaceNews. It was also reported that NASA will not be making any quick moves to fix the issues.
Hubble’s payload computer ran into an issue on June 13, forcing the scientific instruments onboard to go into safe mode. The ground teams conducted tests on June 23 and 24 to fix the glitch and resume scientific functions.
However, even after turning the backup computer on for the first time, the problem wasn’t fixed. In fact, this led to more issues. Now, both primary and backup computers are facing the same glitch with their onboard memory, as per NASA.
Fixing other hardware could work
The scientists are trying to fix other pieces of the telescope’s hardware such as the data formatter that is responsible for formatting and transmitting data and its power regulator that supplies a steady stream of current to all parts of the Hubble.
“A power regulator ensures a steady constant voltage supply,” the update reads. “If the voltage is out of limits, it could cause the problems observed.”
Now, engineers will be assessing the situation and try to switch to a backup data formatter and power regulator. Hubble has been functional for over three decades and captured many stunning images of the cosmos. Its observations have allowed scientists to get insights into the atmospheres of other planets in the universe.
