The latest, strongest space telescope out there’s again to work after a glitch blocked a number of days’ price of science observations.
Mission personnel behind the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb or JWST) spent about two weeks battling a glitch that first appeared on Dec. 7, based on a NASA statement (opens in new tab). In line with NASA officers, the glitch by no means threatened the telescope, and regular operations resumed on Tuesday (Dec. 20).
“The observatory and devices are all in good well being, and weren’t in any hazard whereas Webb’s onboard fault administration system labored as anticipated to maintain the {hardware} protected,” NASA officers wrote.
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JWST will mark one full 12 months in space on Sunday (Dec. 25). It started science operations in July. Beforehand this 12 months, the observatory has confronted two different points: In Might, a micrometeoroid impact precipitated somewhat extra injury than environmental fashions had predicted was seemingly, and in August the observatory’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) skilled an issue with one of its four observing modes.
Nonetheless, the current difficulty seems to be the primary that has paused all science operations, throughout the observatory.
In line with NASA, the difficulty started on Dec. 7, when JWST’s angle management system, which retains the observatory protected against the sun and in a position to attain Earth, skilled a software program glitch. The glitch despatched the telescope into protected mode, a state wherein a spacecraft turns off nonessential techniques and hunkers down in a steady configuration whereas ready for engineers to research a problem.
The observatory entered protected mode and recovered from it a number of occasions within the following days, the NASA assertion implies.
“This occasion resulted in a number of pauses to science operations totaling a number of days over that point interval,” officers wrote. “Science proceeded in any other case throughout that point.” (The observations JWST missed will likely be rescheduled the place potential, officers famous.)
The problem is now underneath management, based on the assertion, after mission personnel “adjusted the commanding system.” Regular operations resumed on Tuesday (Dec. 20), simply in time for the telescope to mark its first anniversary in space.
E-mail Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or observe her on Twitter @meghanbartels. Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.Â
