NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST) went into ‘safe mode’ on Sunday after what the agency said was a ‘software bug’.
NASA announced the error in a Sunday tweet, writing that the HST “went into safe mode around 4am ET due to a software error on board.”
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“The Hubble Space Telescope is in good condition but remains in safe mode as a precaution while the team works to fully understand the error on Sunday and the associated response to safe mode,” NASA told Fox News on Tuesday said. “The team is returning Hubble to scientific operations as soon as possible.”
Safe mode is a setting that puts the telescope in a ‘stable configuration that suspends scientific observations’ and places the solar panels of the HST in the direction of the sun to ensure that the energy needs are met.
“The spacecraft remains in this configuration until ground control can correct or remedy the problem,” NASA explained in a 2018 article. ‘The rest of the spacecraft and its instruments are still fully functional and are expected to deliver excellent science for years to come. ‘
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth.
(NASA)
This is not the first time the telescope has gone into safe mode.
On October 5, 2018, the spacecraft was in safe mode due to a failed gyroscope and on June 15, 2009, the HST Science Instrument Command and Data Handler (SI C&DH) began sending unexpected “zero” readings on board. HST 486 computer is required to activate safe mode.
It remains unclear how long it will take to restore functionality this time.
In 2018, HST’s safety measures were in place for three weeks before the team was able to revive the telescope.
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A joint venture between NASA and the European Space Agency, and the HST started in April 1990 aboard the spacecraft Discovery.
Since then, the telescope has produced amazing images of the universe with more than 1.4 million observations over its lifetime.