NASA, still trying to figure out why the Hubble Space Telescope stopped working for the second time this year, is turning to an instrument that has not been powered on in over a decade to help solve the issue.
The U.S. space agency said late Thursday that during the weekend of October 30, it started to turn on parts of the Near Infrared Camera and Multi Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) instrument to look for 'potential workarounds' on why the Hubble detected a loss of specific data synchronization messages.
First installed in 1997, NICMOS has been inactive since 2010, when the Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) became operational.
'NICMOS allowed the team to use an instrument to collect information on these lost messages while keeping the active instruments off as a safety precaution,' NASA said in the Thursday update.
'Since NICMOS was recovered on Nov. 1, no additional synchronization messages have been lost.'
NASA has turned on an instrument that has not been powered on in over a decade to help get the Hubble out of safe mode
NASA has started to turn on parts of the Near Infrared Camera and Multi Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) instrument to look for 'potential workarounds' on why the Hubble detected a loss of specific data synchronization messages. First installed in 1997, NICMOS has been inactive since 2010
Hubble mission members are analyzing the circuitry of the Control Unit, which generated the synchronization messages and sends them to Hubble's many instruments.
Potential workarounds include changes to instrument flight software that could look for the lost messages and compensate so the telescope does not have to go back into safe mode.
In order to do this, mission members have to test it on a ground simulator to make sure the idea works as planned.
Engineers are in the process of recovering Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instrument from safe mode and could make a decision as early as Sunday after they look at the latest data
Engineers are in the process of recovering Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instrument from safe mode and could make a decision as early as Sunday after they look at the latest data.
ACS was the first instrument to recover because it is the least impacted by lost messages, NASA explained.
NASA will continue to analyze the Control Unit design diagrams and data with the lost synchronization messages in hopes of understanding what caused the issue.
Earlier this week, the agency provided more clarity on the malfunction.
Error codes on the Hubble's science instruments were issued at 1:46 a.m. EDT on October 23, 'indicating the loss of a specific synchronization message.'
The engineers working on the Hubble reset the instruments and science operations were resumed the following morning.
However, a second set of error codes were issued on October 25 at 2:38 a.m. EDT, again indicating the loss of a specific synchronization message.
Subsequently, the instruments went into safe mode.
When the Hubble is in safe mode, it does not observe any celestial objects or collect data, but it is still powered up.
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
