This is necessary so that the telescope can resume observations
TASS, July 1. NASA engineers are preparing to turn on the backup units of the on-board computer of the Hubble orbital observatory, some of the components of which failed in mid-June. The NASA Space Flight Center writes about this on its website. Goddard.
"NASA engineers have already carried out a similar procedure in 2008, thanks to which Hubble was able to continue working after the computer module that is responsible for formatting data and processing commands failed. This system, along with the rest of the on-board computer, was completely replaced in 2009 by the unit that failed in mid-June," the report says.
According to NASA representatives, on June 13, Hubble completely stopped observing due to malfunctions in the onboard computer, which is responsible for executing commands and sending data to Earth. The spacecraft itself is in perfect order, and nothing threatens it.
It is not yet clear which component of the command and scientific data processing system has failed. Engineers suggest that failures could occur both in the block that formats data and commands, and in the system that controls the power supply for the entire computer.
Attempts to restore their work have so far ended unsuccessfully. Therefore, the mission management thought that they should be replaced with Hubble backup units that can perform similar functions. To do this, engineers will need to turn on many other components of the telescope and check their performance. This will take at least a week.
In parallel, NASA specialists will continue to look for the causes of problems in the operation of the telescope - in the hope that thanks to this, Hubble can be returned to normal operation without drastic measures that could cause even more serious problems in the operation of the observatory.
