For the second time this year, the Hubble Space Telescope has experienced a glitch that has caused some of its functions to stop working.
NASA made the announcement late Monday, saying the ageing space telescope's science instruments went into 'safe mode' after it experienced 'synchronization issues with internal spacecraft communications.'
'Science observations have been temporarily suspended while the team investigates the issue,' the U.S. space agency added in a tweet.
'The instruments remain in good health.'
The Hubble Space Telescope experienced a glitch for the second time this year
It science instruments went into 'safe mode' on October 25 after it suffered from 'synchronization issues with internal spacecraft communications'
When the Hubble is in safe mode, it does not observe any celestial objects or collect data, but it is still powered up.
DailyMail.com has reached out to NASA with a request for comment for this story.
The Hubble, which has been in space more than 30 years, first stopped working in June after it ran into issues with a 1980s-era computer that controls its science instruments.
On June 14, flight controllers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland tried to restart the computer after they noticed it stopped working on June 13, but they ran into the same issue and could not get it to operate normally.
In June, the Hubble stopped working after it had issues with a 1980s-era computer that controls its science instruments
Science operations on the Hubble resumed on July 17, following a month in which it was halted due to a technical malfunction.
The agency successfully performed a 'very risky' maneuver to switch the Hubble to its backup computer.
The switch 'was performed to compensate for a problem with the original payload computer that occurred on June 13 when the computer halted, suspending science data collection.'
The switch, which started on July 15, involved bringing the backup Power Control Unit (PCU) online, as well as the backup Command Unit/Science Data Formatter (CU/SDF) on the other side of the Science Instrument and Command & Data Handling (SI C&DH) unit.
The PCU brings power to the SI C&DH components, while the CU/SDF sends and formats commands and data.
NASA added that other pieces of hardware on the Hubble were also switched to alternate interfaces to connect to the backup SI C&DH.
The backup payload computer was then turned on, loaded with software and normal operations mode.
Prior to being switched on in July, the backup payload computer had not been powered
