Hubble Space Telescope Fixed After Month of No Science
Eratosthenes writes:
Hooray! After millions of astronomers held their breath for a very long time, Hubble is back in action! From Phys.org.
The Hubble Space Telescope should be back in action soon, following a tricky, remote repair job by NASA.
The orbiting observatory went dark in mid-June, with all astronomical viewing halted.
NASA initially suspected a 1980s-era computer as the source of the problem. But after the backup payload computer also failed, flight controllers at Maryland's Goddard Space Flight Center focused on the science instruments' bigger and more encompassing command and data unit, installed by spacewalking astronauts in 2009.
Engineers successfully switched to the backup equipment Thursday, and the crucial payload computer kicked in. NASA said Friday that science observations should resume quickly, if everything goes well.
One small switch for Hubble, one giant look at the cosmos for mankind! Godspeed, Space Telescope!
DannyB writes:
NASA revives ailing Hubble Space Telescope with switch to backup computer
The Hubble Space Telescope has powered on once again! NASA was able to successfully switch to a backup computer on the observatory on Friday (July 16) following weeks of computer problems.
On June 13, Hubble shut down after a payload computer from the 1980s that handles the telescope's science instruments suffered a glitch. Now, over a month since Hubble ran into issues, which the Hubble team thinks were caused by the spacecraft's Power Control Unit (PCU), NASA switched to backup hardware and was able to switch the scope back on.
With Hubble back online with this backup hardware, the Hubble team is keeping a close watch to make sure that everything works correctly, according to a statement from NASA.
[....] Included in this switch to backup hardware, the team brought the backup PCU online as well as the backup Command Unit/Science Data Formatter (CU/SDF), which is on the other side of the Science Instrument and Command & Data Handling (SI C&DH) unit, according to the statement. The PCU diverts power to the SI C&DH while the CU/SDF formats and then sends data and commands throughout the scope.
Other pieces of hardware were also swapped to their backup versions to allow the telescope to function.
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