Hubble is no longer responding! For three weeks, the space telescope, which has been scanning the universe for more than thirty years, ran into a computer problem. Hubble’s onboard computer, which allows it to experiment with its instruments, no longer responds to instructions sent from Earth by NASA technicians who handle the telescope.
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Fixing this type, remotely, on an object rotating above our heads at an altitude of 600 km is no easy feat. After the first fiasco, NASA isn’t desperate to regain control, with new tests scheduled for this week.
Hubble, celebrating 31 years of service, remains the iconic instrument that has revolutionized our view of the universe. “There are two aspects, the scientific aspect is very important of courseEric Lagadec, president of the French Society for Astronomy and Astrophysics, confirmed. This allows Including measuring the age of the universe or measuring the expansion of the universe.”
The second aspect corresponds to the magnificent images of space taken by telescopes, the astronomer explains: “It is this iconic aspect of the telescope that makes the image truly iconic. There’s a beautiful picture of the Pillars of Creation where we see the region where stars form in all these colors.”
“I remember receiving a book more than 20 years ago with pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope.Eric Lagadec said, And that’s one of the things that made me want to do astronomy. ”
The new space telescope, the James Webb, is slated to be put into orbit in late 2021. Presented as the “big brother” to the Hubble telescope, it will make it possible to observe the distant universe with unmatched precision.
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