Back into safe mode.
Moderation that is safe
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is not in good shape.
According to a NASA update all science operations have been halted as the orbital observatory was put back into safe mode. On October 23, Hubbles science instruments experienced an issue related to synchronizing instruments with the commands and data requested from Earth.
This is yet another sad outcome for the spacecraft that has provided some of the most breathtaking views of our galaxy to date. It was launched in 1990 and has been orbiting since then.
Scientists were able to resume their science operations after a quick reset. Two days later, the telescopes instrument made the same error multiple times.
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Backup System
The telescopes were put into safe mode to protect themselves, just as they were designed.
Hubble scientists now comb through the data to find out how to fix the synchronization problem and get more data from spacecraft. NASA states that this activity will take at most one week.
NASA claims that all other spacecraft are operating as expected.
This news comes as a result of serious computer problems at the space telescope, which forced teams to switch to an off-board backup computer earlier in the year.
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NASA released some encouraging news in July. It revealed that the move had been successful.
Hubble has been in orbit 31 years. It has needed to be serviced several times in person. In 2009, astronauts visited the telescope to service it.
This was aboard NASA's Space Shuttle, long since retired. Astronauts have no means of returning to the telescope at present, which makes any software or hardware problems exceedingly difficult and could prove fatal.
READ MORE: Hubble in Safe Mode; NASA Team Investigating [NASA]
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