The latest, strongest house 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, in keeping with a NASA statement (opens in new tab). Based on 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 yr in house on Sunday (Dec. 25). It started science operations in July. Beforehand this yr, the observatory has confronted two different points: In Might, a micrometeoroid impact precipitated somewhat extra harm than environmental fashions had predicted was doubtless, and in August the observatory’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) skilled an issue with one of its four observing modes.
Nonetheless, the latest concern seems to be the primary that has paused all science operations, throughout the observatory.
Based on NASA, the difficulty started on Dec. 7, when JWST’s angle management system, which retains the observatory protected against the solar and capable of attain Earth, skilled a software program glitch. The glitch despatched the telescope into protected mode, a state during which a spacecraft turns off nonessential techniques and hunkers down in a steady configuration whereas ready for engineers to research a difficulty.
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 just a few days over that point interval,” officers wrote. “Science proceeded in any other case throughout that point.” (The observations JWST missed shall be rescheduled the place attainable, officers famous.)
The problem is now below management, in keeping with 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 house.
E-mail Meghan Bartels at mbartels@house.com or comply with her on Twitter @meghanbartels. Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
