NASA rescues Hubble instrument from safe mode; investigations still underway

After over two weeks of inactivity, NASA’s Hubble team has successfully revived one of the telescope’s instruments but the investigations to find the root cause of the technical failure are still underway. The telescope went into safe mode integration late last month after it suffered a glitch that resulted in the loss of specific synchronization messages that the telescope's instruments use to respond to data requests and commands correctly. In a statement released recently, the agency informed that the engineers have recovered the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instrument which was also affected during the COVID-led shutdown. As per the statement-

The instrument has started taking science observations once again. Hubble’s other instruments remain in safe mode while NASA continues investigating the lost synchronization messages. The camera was selected as the first instrument to recover as it faces the fewest complications should a lost message occur.

The malfunction was first identified on October 23 and since then Hubble has remained in safe mode while scientists have continuously investigated the root cause of the synchronization issues. No additional problems have been detected yet and the scientists will continue looking into possible short-term solutions and their proper implementation. 

Apart from the ACS, Hubble also consists of the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) along with the Wide Field Camera 3. The scientists are extremely careful in bringing back the ACS into action without putting any additional stress on the rest of the instruments.

Challenges ahead in reviving the Hubble instrument

Earlier in the week, the Hubble team had chalked out a plan to identify the issue and make changes in the telescope’s software, to ensure that the lost messages could be checked and compensated without putting the instruments into safe mode. Now that the ACS has been recovered, scientists will now decide on whether to bring other instruments back into operation while avoiding the telescope’s re-entry into safe mode.

NASA’s previous statement had said, “Over the next week, the team will continue analysing the Control Unit design diagrams and data associated with the lost messages to determine what may have caused this problem. Once the team better understands the frequency of the problem and has determined the time needed to implement possible software changes, they will discuss a plan for returning the other instruments to science operations”.

Image: Pixabay