ANP Productions | Source: ANNP
The Hubble Space Telescope has a problem. The old device is experiencing a malfunction again. All instruments on board have been in a so-called safe mode since Monday and scientific research has ceased. This is the second time this has happened this year. NASA says flight control on the ground is investigating what’s going on.
Hubble was also closed in mid-June. Then the power supply to the computer on board the satellite failed. It took NASA a month to find the problem and turn Hubble into a backup power source.
Launched in April 1990, Hubble has been orbiting the Earth for more than 31 years at an altitude of more than 500 km. He studied distant galaxies, among other things, which gave scientists a better picture of the origin of the universe. He also took famous photographs of distant nebulae. Hubble received its last service in 2009. It is not known how long the instruments will last. If NASA abandons the space telescope, it could slowly fall out of orbit and eventually burn up in the atmosphere sometime within the next decade.
Hubble’s successor should go to space in December. This is the James Webb Space Telescope. It was built together by the United States, Europe, and Canada. James Webb can see farther and sharper than Hubble.
