The Hubble Space Telescope, which had been out of order for over a month, is back


by Hubble ESA

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, which had been suspended for more than a month due to a payload computer malfunction, was revived on July 16, 2021 local time.

NASA Returns Hubble Space Telescope to Science Operations | NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/operations-underway-to-restore-payload-computer-on-nasas-hubble-space-telescope

'Hubble is back!' Famed space telescope has new lease on life after computer swap appears to fix glitch | Science | AAAS
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/07/hubble-back-famed-space-telescope-has-new-lease-life-after-computer-swap-appears-fix

The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in April 1990, is a telescope that floats in space with a total length of 13.1 meters and a weight of 11 tons. In the past, he has made various astronomical achievements, such as filming Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 colliding with Jupiter and discovering evidence of planets on stars outside the solar system. However, on June 13, 2021, the payload computer that controls, adjusts, and monitors scientific equipment suddenly shuts down. NASA tried recovery work such as rebooting, but the situation did not improve and it was unavoidable to put the main computer in safe mode.

Hubble Space Telescope computer designed in the 1980s shuts down, NASA struggles to repair-GIGAZINE



The Hubble Space Telescope had been in sleep for over a month since the incident, but on July 15, 2021, NASA finally identified the cause. We succeeded in returning to normal operation on the 16th.

The Hubble Space Telescope operations team initially thought that the payload computer system had stopped due to deterioration of the memory module, and switched to a spare memory module, but the error continued to appear no matter which spare was switched. Failure. We continued to investigate the cause in the same way, but on July 14, we found that the power control unit that guarantees the stability of the power supply to the payload computer was malfunctioning.

After that, it was not possible to recover the power control unit in question from the ground, so NASA switched the entire Science Instrument Command and Data Handling unit containing the power control unit and payload computer to the backup side. This switching work was completed as of the 15th, but the stable drive of the observation equipment was confirmed on the 16th. After confirming the stable drive of all equipment, NASA released an official statement on the 17th that 'The Hubble Space Telescope is now able to operate scientifically.'




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