NASA has said that its Hubble Space Telescope has been down for the past few days. The agency said that it has detected a problem in its payload computer. The computer stopped working on June 13. The telescope suffered the problem likely due to a degrading memory module. The agency, however, has insisted that the telescope itself in a good health. The telescope is high-tech and extremely powerful scientific equipment. It was launched in 1990 into the low Earth orbit. It is still operational. Scientists have made some incredible discoveries using the Hubble Space Telescope. It remains one of the largest and most versatile research tools launched by humans into space.
NASA said that engineers tried to fix the payload computer problem. The team tried to restart the computer on June 14. But engineers did not get the desired result. The agency said that engineers are working to resolve the issue with the telescope. The team will run a series of tests to collect data to fix the problem. The telescope has been put in a safe mode. It will not conduct experiments until the problem is fully resolved. Its instruments are in a good condition. The payload computer was built in the 1980s. The purpose of the system is to control and coordinate Hubble’s instruments. Besides, it also monitors the safety of the instruments.
The technology for the payload computer is more than three decades old. It was replaced by the agency in 2009 during routine maintenance work. The Hubble telescope makes observations on the night-side of Earth. NASA is planning to retire the telescope with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope is likely to be launched on October 31 this year. It has been developed to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope has captured never seen before images of space. According to NASA’s claim, the telescope has so far made more than 1.4 million observations. The instrument offers an unobstructed view of the universe to scientists.
