Can the Hubble Space Telescope, which has reached a new crisis, achieve a complete revival?

One of the most famous telescopes of the 20th and 21st century, the Hubble Space Telescope, has failed again. In late October, I had a problem with my computer hardware.

NASA engineers put Hubble into safe mode, halted scientific research, and cautiously attempted to restore the system. Earlier this week, it managed to restore one of its instruments.

This gives us hope that Hubble can be restored by restarting the other systems one by one. "I think we're on the road to recovery," says Hubble deputy project manager Jim Jeretic.

Successful restoration of some parts

This time, It all started when Hubble, an observational instrument the size of a school bus, failed to receive the standard synchronization message generated by its controller on Oct. 23. Two days later, NASA engineers noticed that Hubble hadn't received multiple sync messages, so they turned off some systems, turned off the cameras, and put them into "safe mode."

There are also problems that can be easily fixed, such as an accidental high-energy particle hitting the probe and turning it on. But when encountering an unknown problem, engineers pay close attention.

The purpose of this lengthy process is to protect Hubble's systems and ensure that the rover can continue to deliver scientific discoveries for as long as possible. "You shouldn't put the observation equipment in and out of safe mode repeatedly. We try to minimize turning the equipment on and off and changing the temperature repeatedly," he said. , says Geletic.

Regarding this trouble, on November 7th, the ACS (Advanced Camera for Surveying Observation) was successfully restored. This camera is a relatively new camera added in 2002 and is designed to capture large areas in detail at once.

NASA engineers are now watching closely to see if the error reoccurs with the ACS, which has begun collecting data again. If the ACS continues to perform well, engineers will move on to testing Hubble's other equipment.

Troubles Overcoming

Hubble has documented everything from the birth and death of stars in distant galaxies to the birth and death of nearby stars during its long and productive operation. During that time, he has faced many troubles.

The launch was in 1990, months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, by the space shuttle Discovery. It currently orbits about 340 miles (545 km) above Earth. After the launch, astronauts aboard NASA's Space Shuttle conducted five service missions to repair and upgrade the system, greatly extending the life of the space telescope, which was originally expected to last about 10 years. .

In May 2009, astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle "Atlantis" repaired spectroscopes and other equipment, which was the last service mission. All subsequent reboots have been from Earth, making it impossible for engineers to replace Hubble's hardware.

Hubble's current glitch is not unprecedented. In fact, this is the second time this year that the problem has occurred. In July, the payload computer that coordinates and monitors the scientific instruments went offline, and engineers put the telescope's instruments into safe mode for about a month. After that, when I started using the backup power supply, I was able to resume operation.