There are a few missions that have set new records for longevity and ruggedness. The Opportunity rover was supposed to run for 90 days, but remained in operation for 15 years. The 2001 Mars Odyssey is still in operation 20 years after it rendezvoused with the Red Planet.
The longest-running mission in deep space has been the Voyager 1 probe, which has explored the Solar System for 44 years. The Hubble Space Telescope is the winner of the longevity prize in Earth's atmosphere. Hubble is on its way to completing 32 years of service.
The issue began when NASA reported that the venerated space telescope was sending error codes. Hubble's instruments use timing information provided in this message to respond to data requests. Hubble entered safe mode after the same error codes were issued two days later.
The Hubble Space Telescope is being released from the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Credit: NASA
The Hubble team tried to restart its main computer and backup systems. They announced on November 8th that they had retained partial control by bringing the telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys back online. The restoration of the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph followed.
The team announced on Monday, December 6th that all four active instruments were back online after power was restored to the Space Telescope. This latest glitch and need for restoration is part of a recurring pattern, as the telescope is fully-operational once again. Hubble's NSSC-1 computer entered safe mode last June after an issue caused it to stop working.
The telescope has a computer that controls and coordinates the scientific instruments. The telescope was restored to full operational status by July 17th after a lengthy investigation and multiple attempts to restart Hubble's backup systems. In October of last year, one of Hubbles reaction wheels failed to go into safe mode. NASA announced that the venerable Hubble had been restored to working order after considerable effort on behalf of the operations team.
There are steps to the Hubble Constant. A. Feild (STScI) is a credit.
Hubble has a long history of service, and it runs on systems that were developed in the 80s and 90s, which has caused some concern. When a mission experiences three significant issues that cause it to enter safe mode in the last six months, one might get the impression it was on its last legs.
Hubble's heat is back online after a scare. The team will continue to test and develop the changes they have made to the instrument software. If Hubble experiences lost messages in the future, these changes will allow it to continue running science operations.
The first of these changes will be installed on the COS in December and will be followed by similar updates in the coming months. Hubble has made some of the most profound discoveries in the field of astronomy. The expanion rate of the Universe has been shown to have been speeding up for billions of years, leading to the theory of Dark Energy.
The artist's conception shows NASA's James Webb Telescope, which will provide more information about previously detected exoplanets. Next- generation space telescopes are expected to build on what they discover. Credit: NASA.
Its deep surveys have led to newer, more accurate age estimates for the Universe, and taught us a lot about the supermassive black holes that reside at the center of most galaxies. It has been essential to the study of extrasolar planets by working in tandem with the telescopes. It was used to study the planets, comets, asteroids, and other objects in the Solar System.
NASA expects the two telescopes to work together throughout the remainder of the decade, expanding our knowledge of the universe. Hubble could be around until the 2030s and 2040s, where it could assist next- generation telescopes like NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
For the second time in the past year, Hubble has shown us that it is not done.
Further reading: NASA.
