NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has helped in shaping our understandings about the cosmos and the universe for over 30 years, but now its payload computer has stopped working.
After the malfunction which took on 13th June, which paused the collecting of scientific data. But, the positive news is that the telescope and its other parts are in a good state.
There were additional tests performed on 23 and 24 of June, leaded to switching onto the backup computer.
According to NASA, the Hubble paused accepting the “keep-alive” signal that acts as a median between the payload and the main computers, which indicate that all the functioning are well.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland tried to restart the payload computer but soon it came to rest.
The payload computer acts as a communication channel commanding the Hubble Space Telescope to its scientific instruments, formatting of data and transmission of signals to the ground.
Since it is highly unlikely that all individual hardware elements have a problem, the team is now looking at other hardware as the possible culprit, including the Command Unit/Science Data Formatter (CU/SDF), another module on the SI C&DH.
The CU formats and sends commands and data to specific destinations, including the science instruments. The SDF formats the science data from the science instruments for transmission to the ground.
The team is also looking at the power regulator to see if possibly the voltages being supplied to hardware are not what they should be.
A power regulator ensures a steady constant voltage supply. If the voltage is out of limits, it could cause the problems observed, reported NASA.
Hubble was launched in 1990, Hubble has been in the universe for about 31 years now.
It has been contributing to the discoveries of various cosmos studies.
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