The James Webb Space Telescope has had scientists on the brink of breaking for two full weeks. It all started on December 7, at which time the space observatory began experiencing glitches due to software problems in its attitude control system. But what exactly does this do? Well, nothing more and nothing less than directing the vision of the telescope. This has been confirmed by NASA.
During these failures, the James Webb went into safe mode. In this way, the non-essential systems of the telescope stopped working while the problems inside were solved. Fortunately, this internal telescope tool allows only the basic systems to remain operationalso the setback has not meant vacations for him.
After a tough battle, the telescope team managed to fix the problems on December 20. A) Yes, the James Webb has returned to full normality. However, it was not until December 21 that NASA decided notify to the rest of the community regarding the problems being experienced at the L2 point of Lagrange, home of the James Webb.
The observatory and instruments are in good health and were not compromised while the fault management system on board Webb was working as intended to keep the hardware safe. The team is working to reschedule the affected observations.
NASA
The James Webb is going to experience more problems than we’d like… but that’s okay
It is not the first time that James Webb gives us a displeasure. On previous occasions, we have already been notified of your Mirrors dusty, and even a larger than expected meteoroid came to hit him in the past, creating damage to its structure. However, it seems that it is nothing we have to worry regarding.
It is important to note that these types of technical problems are quite common on complicated space missions. The Hubble Space Telescope, which has been in operation for more than three decades, has had to overcome numerous problems throughout its history. The James Webb, meanwhile, It has had a construction cost of regarding 10,000 million dollarsSo the concern is understandable.
Despite these setbacks, NASA ensures that the James Webb and its instruments are in good condition. In the statement, they comment that during the failure there was no danger thanks to the problem management system on board. The latter fulfilled its role as it should to protect the hardware of the telescope.
Meanwhile, NASA is working to reschedule science observations that were interrupted by the issue. After all, a two-week window represents a significant loss. Hopefully, the James Webb will remain active for many more decades to offer us new views of the impressive structures that swarm through the space vacuum.
