Hubble Telescope's payload computer is down. NASA has spent days trying to fix it.

[Elderberry]

USA TODAY by Sudiksha Kochi 6/22/2021

Hubble Telescope's payload computer is down. NASA has spent days trying to fix it.

NASA has spent more than a week trying to fix the Hubble Telescope's computer hardware issues.

The problem: a 1980s-era payload computer, which is supposed to control and coordinate scientific instruments aboard the spacecraft and monitor them for health and safety purposes, stopped working June 13, according to a NASA statement.

"After the halt occurred ... the main computer stopped receiving a “keep-alive” signal, which is a standard handshake between the payload and main spacecraft computers to indicate all is well," NASA said in the statement.

The payload computer is part of the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling module, which was replaced in 2009 during the last astronaut-servicing mission to Hubble, which launched in 1990.

The main computer has put all the scientific instruments into safe mode. An attempt to restart the computer the next day failed.

More: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/06/21/hubble-telescope-payload-computer-nasa/5296061001/

[corbe]

[DB]

Its dead Jim.

[Smokin Joe]

Gotta watch those automatic updates...

[Absalom]

USA TODAY by Sudiksha Kochi 6/22/2021
Hubble Telescope's payload computer is down. NASA has spent days trying to fix it.
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Er..................my neighbor's power mower went down Sunday w/only half her grass cut!
I'm putting these parties in touch w/each other!!!

[dfwgator]

[Elderberry]

Operations Underway to Restore Payload Computer on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope

NASA

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/operations-underway-to-restore-payload-computer-on-nasas-hubble-space-telescope

June 22, 2021 - Testing Underway to Identify Issue and Restore Payload Computer on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope

NASA continues to work to resolve a problem with the Hubble Space Telescope payload computer that halted on June 13. After performing tests on several of the computer’s memory modules, the results indicate that a different piece of computer hardware may have caused the problem, with the memory errors being only a symptom. The operations team is investigating whether the Standard Interface (STINT) hardware, which bridges communications between the computer’s Central Processing Module (CPM) and other components, or the CPM itself is responsible for the issue. The team is currently designing tests that will be run in the next few days to attempt to further isolate the problem and identify a potential solution.

This step is important for determining what hardware is still working properly for future reference. If the problem with the payload computer can’t be fixed, the operations team will be prepared to switch to the STINT and CPM hardware onboard the backup payload computer. The team has conducted ground tests and operations procedure reviews to verify all the commanding required to perform that switch on the spacecraft.

If the backup payload computer’s CPM and STINT hardware is turned on, several days will be required to assess the computer performance and restore normal science operations. The backup computer has not been powered on since its installation in 2009; however, it was thoroughly tested on the ground prior to installation on the spacecraft.

The payload computer is a NASA Standard Spacecraft Computer-1 (NSSC-1) system built in the 1980s that is located on the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling (SI C&DH) unit. After 18 years on orbit, the original SI C&DH experienced a failure in 2008 that delayed the final servicing mission to Hubble while a replacement was prepared for flight. In May 2009, STS-125 was launched and the astronauts installed the existing unit. The replacement contains original hardware from the 1980s with four independent 64K memory modules of Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) memory. Only one memory module is used operationally, with the other three serving as backups. All four modules can be used and accessed from either of the redundant payload computers.

Launched in 1990, with more than 30 years of operations, Hubble has made observations that have captured imaginations worldwide and deepened our knowledge of the cosmos.

For more information about the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling unit view the following PDF:
Science Instrument Command and Data Handling unit excerpt

[Kamaji]

I'm surprised the thing is still running at all after 30 years up there exposed to significant radiation.

[GtHawk]

I'm surprised the thing is still running at all after 30 years up there exposed to significant radiation.

Good thing there is a backup since we no longer have a vehicle capable of taking astronauts to it to make repairs as they did for the mirror.(or so they tell us)

[Gefn]

I did like watching “The It Crowd”

[Wingnut]

V'Ger, meet H'bbl.