NASA Begins Switch to Backup Spacecraft Hardware

Members of the Hubble operations team work in the control room on July 15, 2021 to restore Hubble to science operations. Credits: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth --- More info: Hubble’s payload computer, which controls and coordinates the observatory’s onboard science instruments, halted suddenly on June 13. When the main computer failed to receive a signal from the payload computer, it automatically placed Hubble’s science instruments into safe mode. That meant the telescope would no longer be doing science while mission specialists analyzed the situation. In response to the anomaly, NASA began a switch to backup spacecraft hardware on Hubble in response to an ongoing problem with its payload computer. This was a multi-day event. Science observations restarted the afternoon of Saturday, July 17.