But what happened to Hubble?
The famous telescope, in service for more than 30 years in space, has not worked for several days, NASA announced Friday, indicating to continue "working to solve the problem".
"The telescope itself and the scientific instruments are in good health," reassured the US space agency.
But the computer that controls these instruments "shut down on Sunday, June 13" at the end of the afternoon, US time.
A test to restart it failed the next day.
NASA continues to work to resolve an issue with the payload computer on the Hubble Space Telescope, which halted on June 13.
Launched in 1990, Hubble has contributed greatly to our understanding of the universe over the past 30 years.
https://t.co/qEmIUQCtuX
- Hubble (@NASAHubble) June 18, 2021
A damaged memory module?
The problem would come from a damaged memory module, according to the first indications.
An attempt to switch to a standby module also failed.
The system of this computer was developed in the 1980s. It is carried on board a module which was replaced in 2009 during a maintenance mission on the telescope.
In October 2018, the space telescope had already had to be shut down in "secure mode" because of a failure in its gyroscopes.
Hubble, launched in 1990, revolutionized astronomy and revolutionized our view of the Universe, accumulating images of the solar system, the Milky Way and galaxies far away.
A new space telescope, James Webb, is to be put into orbit at the end of 2021. Presented as the “big brother” of the Hubble telescope, it will allow the distant Universe to be observed with unparalleled precision.
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