Hubble remains in safe mode after latest glitch - SpaceNews:
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, offline for more than a week because of an issue with its instruments, is likely to remain out of service for another week as engineers investigate the problem.
Hubble's science instruments went into a safe mode early Oct. 25 after they issued error codes indicating the loss of "synchronization messages," which provide timing information used by the instruments. The safe mode stopped scientific operations of the telescope, although the instruments themselves, and the rest of the spacecraft, are in good health.
This was not the first time a problem with synchronization messages affected Hubble. Two days earlier, instruments also issued error codes because of a loss of a specific synchronization message, NASA said in a Nov. 1 statement. Controllers reset the instruments and science operations resumed the next day.
[...] Despite these problems, astronomers remain hopeful that Hubble can remain operations through much of the decade. At a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in early June, officials with the Space Telescope Science Institute said they were working on initiatives to extend the life of the telescope and its instruments to as late as 2030.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 03 2021, @06:44PM (5 children)
Please sir, I want some more.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday November 03 2021, @06:49PM (4 children)
It would be interesting, if we could pull it off. As of right now, all we have a some tiny capsules going back and forth from the ISS. Maybe Starship could?
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: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday November 03 2021, @07:13PM
2 launches. First with spare parts using whatever launch vehicle could do the job and once it got into position near the Hubble the second launch with the repair crew using whatever crew capable craft that would allow for the EVA to install the part.
Of course funding will never get approved for such a mission. The US Congress isn't interested in science, they just expect NASA to get an American back on Luna before anyone else does on a shoestring budget because of national ego.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday November 03 2021, @07:25PM (2 children)
Also the Sierra Nevada (now Sierra Space) Dream Chaser, possibly.
NASA to Continue Funding Private Spaceflight, Considers Sixth Hubble Upgrade Mission [soylentnews.org]
https://astronomy.com/news/2017/02/potential-hubble-repair-mission [astronomy.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by weilawei on Wednesday November 03 2021, @09:56PM (1 child)
"And now, according to a Wall Street Journal report, there could be a sixth. According to the report, the servicing would provide an “insurance policy” in case the James Webb Space Telescope, which will perch itself far from low-Earth orbit (and even beyond the Moon) at a stable point called L2."
In case the James Webb Space Telescope will what?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 03 2021, @10:17PM
In case it has a problem and dies before even taking a single image.
The official word is/was that JWST can not and will not be serviced. Definitely not by humans at L2. Considering how massive of a loss it would be, I could see another half billion approved to fund a robotic spacecraft to service it.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]