Aging NASA Hubble Space Telescope hustles to survive latest technical glitch:
The Hubble Space Telescope has spent over three decades scanning the cosmos, bringing us glorious images and data from our universe. The spacecraft is showing its age. The Hubble team is now troubleshooting a problem with the telescope's payload computer -- a piece of hardware built in the 1980s -- that controls its science instruments.
The computer issue cropped up on Sunday. "After analyzing the data, the Hubble operations team is investigating whether a degrading memory module led to the computer halt," NASA said in a statement on Wednesday. Hubble is a joint project from NASA and the European Space Agency.
"After the halt occurred on Sunday, the main computer stopped receiving a 'keep alive' signal, which is a standard handshake between the payload and main spacecraft computers to indicate all is well," NASA said. "The main computer then automatically placed all science instruments in a safe mode configuration."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @03:30PM (21 children)
Elon can build and launch a new one to replace it by August.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday June 17 2021, @03:37PM (20 children)
Start the Hubble assembly line, launch 50 of them.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @03:53PM (9 children)
Is the electronics assembly on the Hubble serviceable in space, or part of an internal assembly that requires partial or full terrestrial disassembly to access? Because if it is the former, why the fuck don't they start working on a replacement module for it, back up or clone the software during R&R, and just send up a mission to replace it? We've got the technology now (Falcon 9+Dragon Crew Module, or if that isn't enough for the required EVA, Starship, soon enough) and even with JWST up there we won't have an equivalent optical telescope up there for the foreseeable future. Hell, if necessary put up a crowdfund for it. It would be a good way to gauge public interest in it, perhaps even internationally.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday June 17 2021, @04:17PM
NASA to Continue Funding Private Spaceflight, Considers Sixth Hubble Upgrade Mission [soylentnews.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope#Possible_service_missions [wikipedia.org]
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 17 2021, @04:24PM (1 child)
I would presume that a technician who had a decent work area could tear it down to it's components, and rebuild it. Not during a space walk, of course. Someone has to get to it, unbolt it from the telescope, bring it inside, disassemble, do some desoldering and soldering, reassemble, then take it back to the telescope and mount it/plug it in.
It may be something more of a pain in the ass, than doing the same work in gravity. Or, instead, it may prove to be as easy, or easier. This is exactly the sort of thing we should be looking at, and trying to work with, in space. If space exploration and space travel are ever going to be a thing, we can expect repairs to be necessary in 0-grav and micro-grav.
In this case, they suspect a memory module, which really isn't a difficult replacement. My first question would be, "How big is it? Can I get my fingers in there to work?"
OTOH, it could be more cost effective for NASA to engineer a more modern replacement for the computer. Someone would have to cook some adapters for input and output leads, but again, it's something that we will one day have to do in space. Might as well figure things out now, before a crew sweats blood while figuring it out, because their lives depend on it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @05:27PM
They just swap out the module. No harder than swapping out a GPU in a PC. Probably cheaper, too,even if you include launch costs!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @05:24PM (5 children)
This piece is serviceable, if only there was a spacecraft that could actually perform the service. According to an article I read, this module was actually installed during the last service mission.
I assume that if Starship is operational before Hubble falls out of orbit, Elon will go to NASA with a proposal for a new servicing mission.
There's even a small but not zero chance that Starship ends up performing a service mission to the James Webb telescope. Assuming it ever launches.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @08:38PM (4 children)
Per takyon's post above, Crew Dragon and Dream Chaser are both viable options. They list even Orion, though strangely omit Starliner. You don't need a huge cargo bay, just somewhere to latch on while you work.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @08:48PM (1 child)
Is it practical to do EVAs from any of these craft? I know that the pressure suits used on Dragon aren't really suitable for EVAs, so they would have to bring such suits for everyone onboard (since AFAIK none of the craft have airlocks). Do the crafts have all the things (oxygen supplies, radios, whatever) that would be needed?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 18 2021, @03:37AM
Only the astronauts actually going outside need EVA suits. Anyone staying inside only needs a pressure suit, and then only if the pod can't be fitted with an airlock. Dream Chaser has an airlock option for their trunk module. They all have some internal cargo capacity and both Dream Chaser and Dragon have trunk modules for extra cargo and/or supplies. The hardest part will be docking with the telescope.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday June 17 2021, @08:50PM
You many not need (or want) a large cargo bay, but you probably want to use something that has a record of working. SpaceX has done orbital missions. The other options...well, not yet. Try them out first at something easier.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @08:56PM
Dream Chaser isn't real (it can't hurt you). There won't be a human rated version for at least five years, if not longer, maybe ever.
Crew Dragon is only really intended to go to the ISS. I'm not sure if it's capable of even getting to Hubble if launched on a Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy isn't human rated. Does anyone know for sure?
Even if the vehicle can get there and back, there's the question of being able to do the necessary work - I don't think Crew Dragon is designed for EVA, nor are the SpaceX brand suits astronauts wear on it. Though perhaps real EVA suits could be adapted.
On top of all that, one of the important tasks in Hubble servicing missions is boosting the orbit, and neither of these vehicles is capable of doing that. Though I suppose they could have a robot perform a boost later.
Anyway, it seems like there are quite a few hurdles in the way, all of which would be handled by Starship.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday June 17 2021, @04:10PM (6 children)
Consider all the data just one Hubble Telescope has gathered. 50x that would be interesting. Still, there's a whole lot of sky.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @04:47PM (5 children)
Could we keep up with 50 Hubbles? I mean, one Hubble has provided tons of data for quite a number of astronomers to look at. Could we provide 50x as many astronomers?
It seems like it would be an interesting problem to have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @05:06PM
It's very difficult to breed astronomers in captivity. Perhaps we could create an astronomer-chimpanzee hybrid?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday June 17 2021, @05:15PM
You wouldn't need 50x the astronomers. The data is analyzed by computer programs for the most part. A lot of it can be discarded in real time.
Hubble gets pointed at Neptune once in a while. If you had 50x more frequent or even continuous observation of Neptune, the same number of astronomers could look at the data and write papers about it, just with the benefit of having more to work with, catching transient events that could have been missed, etc.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @05:31PM
Probably. Hubble time is extremely valuable and tightly rationed. Don't think of more telescopes as more of the same, think of it as being able to do things that can't be considered right now because there's not enough telescope to go around.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @06:21PM
Here’s your interesting problem: who will pay their salaries?
(Score: 2) by EETech1 on Friday June 18 2021, @02:18AM
There's probably a couple dozen up there already...
Just pointed the wrong direction!
I'm sure they have much better hardware too!
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Thursday June 17 2021, @05:37PM (2 children)
So...
You want to build a Beowulf of Hubbles?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday June 17 2021, @06:00PM (1 child)
I want a Beowulf cluster of Hubble clusters.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @08:55PM
doesn't USA already have that, just pointing down at the pesky eastern hemisphere?