Hubble Space Telescope sails serenely on in safe mode after efforts to switch to backup memory modules fail
- Reference: 1624274528
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/21/hubble_memory_fail/
- Source link:
It has now been more than a week since the computer halted on Sunday 13 June. An attempt to restart it the following Monday failed with initial indications pointing to a failing memory module.
[2]At the time , a NASA spokesperson told The Register that the veteran telescope only required one of its four memory modules and so planned to swap to a backup module in order to resume operations.
[3]
According to NASA, "the command to initiate the backup module failed to complete." The team had another crack at bringing up both modules on Thursday 17 June but again failed.
[4]Hubble Space Telescope to switch to backup memory module after instrument computer halts
[5]America to get world's 'most powerful' AI supercomputer to create the most detailed 3D map of the universe yet
[6]ESA signs off on contracts for lunar data relay and navigation
[7]James Webb Space Telescope runs one last dress rehearsal for its massive golden mirrors before heading to launchpad
While Hubble was designed to be serviceable by astronauts, its hardware is also highly redundant. As well as the four memory modules, there are two onboard computers. Only one is required for normal operations and the telescope can switch over to the other in the event of a problem. Both can access and use any one of those four independent memory modules, each of which contains 64K of CMOS memory.
The payload computer itself is a NASA Standard Spacecraft Computer-1 (NSSC-1) system built in the 1980s. Although the telescope and its science instruments remain in good health, the computer is required to coordinate and monitor the payload.
[8]
[9]
"The operations team will be running tests and collecting more information on the system to further isolate the problem," said NASA.
The issue follows others suffered by the ageing spacecraft. A [10]broken bit of code sent the poor thing into a safe mode earlier this year and Hubble's aperture door failed to close.
[11]
The last servicing mission was 2009's STS 125, and the orbiters that were capable of ferrying astronauts and spare parts to the telescope are now sat in museums around the United States. Despite wishful thinking by some SpaceX fans, a further fix-it flight is highly unlikely, particularly since the James Webb Space Telescope is finally set for launch in the coming months. ®
Updated to add at 14:08 UTC:
A NASA spokesperson got in touch to tell The Register that the team was continuing to work on the payload computer issue, and were gathering data to "determine the best path forward for bringing the computer back to operations."
"At this time, there is no definitive timeline for bringing the computer back online. However, the team has multiple options available to them and are working to find the best solution to return the telescope to science operations as soon as possible."
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/operations-underway-to-restore-payload-computer-on-nasas-hubble-space-telescope
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/16/nasa_hubble_outage/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YNC3nT3jrpBObp1s-z4B7QAAAEk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/16/nasa_hubble_outage/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/27/most_powerful_ai/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/21/esa_moonlight/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/13/james_webb_last_checks/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YNC3nT3jrpBObp1s-z4B7QAAAEk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/12/hubble_bork/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YNC3nT3jrpBObp1s-z4B7QAAAEk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
This is starting to look bad
I sincerely hope that Hubble will be able to come back online.
The James Webb telescope is not a replacement for Hubble, we need both to work together and improve our knowlegde of Space and Science in general.
Best wishes to the engineers. I'm sure they're racking their brains to the nth degree to solve this issue.
Re: This is starting to look bad
> we need both to work together and improve our knowledge of Space and Science
agreed, might add that efforts to bring flesh bags* into space would be considerably lower on my priority list, which appears to be driven in part by politicians' need for showy distraction projects.
(*) sending an engineer where s/he is more capable than a service robot to fix Hubble excluded
Re: This is starting to look bad
it's 'space' and 'science'. Capitalisation implies deification :)
Re: This is starting to look bad
>Capitalisation implies deification
Not writing the word at all implies deification, although the way things are going over here getting stoned for saying 'Science' is looking increasingly likely
And shut the door on your way out ...
I seem to remember it was the last mission that resulted in the door being kicked to make it latch properly.
Even if they could schedule another mission in some way, I would be asking whether it was still physically possible to perform the service and leave the satellite in an operational state ... I think a lot more remote power cycling and reconfig is in order.
I for one would be sorry to see it go. Alongside JW it would continue to make and amazing broad spectrum tool as JW is simply not designed to do most of what Hubble can. On the other hand, there are now ground based facitities that are as good or better than Hubble for some of the spectrum.
Re: And shut the door on your way out ...
> On the other hand, there are now ground based facitities that are as good or better than Hubble for some of the spectrum.
...which will be progressively blinded by the clouds of Internet satellite constellations shot up there, Starlink being the first one.
Funnily enough to counter this, people in this very forum told me that nowadays all telescopes should be space-based, simply ignoring that it's not like we are even able to keep Hubble operational and get James Webb off the ground (supposed to be launched 15 years ago, remember?). Case in point, Hubble has hardware problems, and while NASA might manage to work around them for a while, we simply can't repair them anymore: Hubble is doomed because of a couple hundred dollars worth of components.
The slight but fundamental difference between what we're able to do right now, and what we should be able to do (potentially, eventually) is apparently very difficult to apprehend.
Even in that wishful-thinking dreamworld, where each small $5-million ground-based telescope is readily replaced by a $10-billion space one, we simply don't have the technology anymore to keep them running. Yes, we might have the potential , but it's still just a potential.
/rant
Re: And shut the door on your way out ...
I think you're remembering an incident from the first service mission where one of the astronauts anchored himself to HST so that he could put more force on the door using his shoulder:
(From: https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-61/mission-sts-61.html)
"The astronauts struggled with the latches on the gyro door when two of four gyro door bolts did not reset after the astronauts installed two new gyro packages. Engineers who evaluated the situation speculated that when the doors were unlatched and opened, a temperature change might have caused them to expand or contract enough to keep the bolts from being reset.
With the efforts of determined astronauts in Endeavour's payload bay and persistent engineers on the ground, all four bolts finally latched and locked after the two spacewalkers worked simultaneously at the top and bottom of the doors. Musgrave anchored himself at the bottom of the doors with a payload retention device which enabled him to use some body force against the doors. Hoffman, who was attached to the robot arm, worked at the top of the doors. The duo successfully latched the doors when they simultaneously latched the top and bottom latches. "
Also interesting read on the events leading up to SM1 and why it was so important to NASA: https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4219/Chapter16.html
Re: And shut the door on your way out ...
>anchored himself to HST so that he could put more force on the door using his shoulder:
NASA needs a space blowtorch, space breaker bar, space spare bit of scaffold pole, space impact wrench and space swearing
Re: And shut the door on your way out ...
I would hope that NASA would fix/refuel all the bits that they could on that one mission, if it ever took place.
So much great science from the Hubble Space Telescope and JW will expand our understanding. Hubble will continue as well. But, it could also (for example) be turned over to the kids, I imagine that it would inspire two generations of future scientists. We could get another CERN or 10 full of smart people in science with that type of inspiration.
Re: And shut the door on your way out ...
..and there was me thinking that on the last service mission in 2009, they fitted an Alexa module, so all they need do is use the voice command:
"Open the pod bay doors please HST"...
and lo, the pod doors would stay shut and they'd hear:
"I'm sorry Dave I'm afraid ! can't do that!"
Power Off
"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"
I've been told by folks that actually command satellites that power cycling and switching to backup components that affect command/control are last resorts only to be tried after everything else has failed. Makes sense. What's the fallback if you power down and the satellite or its communications system fails to come back up????
Re: Power Off
"What's the fallback if you power down and the satellite or its communications system fails to come back up????"
A visit to the Vatican to ask for some divine intervention?
Re: Power Off
The most common bug that comes out of nowhere is a power bug.
Just leave the unit running 24/7 because if you turn it off, it may never power up again.
This will happen when the power-up circuits are bad and are never known or discovered until the next power up.
Re: Power Off
Then you launch the GSB (giant space boot) to give it a kick
Divine intervention is a legacy technology long depreciated by most modern units of intelligence. (It never actually got out of alpha.)
The last step after divine intervention is using smoke, magic and mirrors. We have used that numerous times to fix a mainframe.
>Divine intervention is a legacy technology long depreciated by most modern units of intelligence.
Or you're just living in a unit-test universe
Douglas Adams called it
There's clearly been a fault in the fault-detection module.
Click, hum.
Re: Douglas Adams called it
Red Dwarf too:
Cat : Well, according to the Damage Report Machine, there are several small fires in the cockpit, lots of smoke and the Navicomp's fizzing.
[the Damage Report Machine explodes]
Cat : Oh, damn! Now the Damage Report Machine's exploded!
Just Another Keyhole
Hubble is just a Keyhole spy satellite that's pointing up instead of down. I know that is a simplistic comparison, but Hubble was made in the same factory by the same company with the same basic components. We have ONE Hubble. How many Keyholes are there and just exactly what good do we get from them? How much stunning science and fantastic images and inspiring insight have we gotten from Hubble? And how much from the Keyholes? We could probably put up another Hubble with 2020's computers in 12 months if we only had some real leadership in this country. It makes me want to hurl.
the James Webb Space Telescope is finally set for launch in the coming months
[1]Are you sure?
[1] https://xkcd.com/2014/
It's currently scheduled for no earlier than Oct 31st 2021.
However, NASA is waiting for ArianeSpace to resolve an issue with fairing separation on the Ariane 5 rocket JWST is booked to ride on. [1]Ariane hasn't launched since August.
[1] https://spacenews.com/ariane-5-issue-could-delay-jwst/
Wishful thinking...
SpaceX have the delta V and life support available on the dragon
What they don't have is the arm (though I am sure one could be deployed in the trunk) or the airlock or the EVA suits.
They could go all gemini and just vent the atmosphere until they get back in, but that doesn't seem like a particularly likely scenario.