On June 13 , the Hubble Space Telescope ’s cargo computer block off working , bringing the keen instrumental role ’s operation to a stop . Several attempts have been made to restart – so far without success – and astronomers are brace themselves for the possible action this is the end for the telescope that change our survey of the universe .
NASA has revealed only circumscribed information about the Hubble difficulty and is close - lipped about the chance of getting it up and operating again . On June 16 , the NASA websiteannounced ; “ After break down the data , the Hubble operations squad is investigating whether a degrading computer storage module led to the computer stop . The team is preparing to shift to one of several backup modules . ”
Two days afterward , on June 18 , an updatereported ; “ When the functioning squad attempted to switch to a back - up remembering module , however , the command to initiate the backup mental faculty fail to fill in . Another attempt was conducted on both modules Thursday evening to obtain more symptomatic information while again trying to bring those computer storage modules online . However , those attempts were not successful . ”
The Hubble Twitter account is no more informative . Besides pinch a radio link to the medium release , its most late update was aFather ’s day messageabout Lyman Spitzer , considered the telescope ’s parent .
Four missionary station to Hubble fixed job and elevate piece of the instruments . However , the last service commission took placein 2009 – even that only occurred after awidespread public military campaign . At the time theJWST , find out as a replacement for Hubble despite engage largely at longer wavelengths , was expected to come into functioning soon , thin Hubble ’s grandness .
Twelve years later , with the JWSTstill not launched , optimism about its capacity to satisfy the void Hubble will bequeath is much more muted , but there are no plans to extend Hubble ’s life . Although some hope Hubble could have another ten or even twenty years in it , if a major failure occurs it ’s unlikely to be resuscitate .
Hubble has survived some scares before , most recently agyroscope failurebeforereturning to full capacitance .
It ’s hard to think after 30 years of photographs ofmesmerizing beautyand information that hastransformed our knowledgeof almost every field of uranology , Hubble was once a by - word for nonstarter and government waste product . Delays because of the Challenger cataclysm and legion equipment replacements induce the missionary station ’s costs to bollix out before Hubble left the ground . Once in space , the primary mirror was revealed to have been urbane to the wrong shape . Astonishingly , grounds of the problem had been can , rather than inspiring further checks .
Although some crucial work could still be conducted , the telescope remained the can of widespreadjokesand ridicule until disciplinal mirrorsresolved the problem . Since then , however , Hubble has become perhaps the most crucial single scientific instrument since Galileo ’s first scope . Coming so before long after the collapse of theArecibo Observatory , its loss would be a major hit to the astronomic biotic community ’s morale .
