NASA’s Planet-Hunting Spacecraft Is in Safe Mode After Possible Computer Glitch

In the midst of surveying 1000’s of stars to identify exoplanets, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) entered into secure mode on Monday. It’s not but clear what occurred to the spacecraft, however engineers are attempting to resuscitate the planet hunter.

The spacecraft is steady, however early investigations suggests it suffered from a pc glitch, NASA announced on Wednesday. The group behind the mission remains to be making an attempt to determine what occurred to the spacecraft, however TESS might have gone into secure mode in response to a reset of its flight laptop.

TESS entered right into a steady configuration consequently and its science operations have been suspended in the interim. Any current science knowledge that the spacecraft collected however had not but despatched to floor management is saved on the satellite tv for pc. “Recovery procedures and investigations are underway to resume normal operations, which could take several days,” NASA wrote in a press release.

Launched in 2018, TESS is looking for planets outdoors of our photo voltaic system. The mission is designed to survey 1000’s of stars and establish attainable planets in orbit round them, which it does utilizing the tried-and-true transit methodology of detection. TESS stares at a star and measures the tiny dip in brightness brought on by a planet passing in entrance of it from the spacecraft’s standpoint.

TESS has used the transit methodology to find greater than 250 exoplanets thus far, with 1000’s of candidate exoplanets nonetheless ready to be confirmed. The spacecraft was initially designed to final two years, nevertheless it’s managed to maintain going. Hopefully, this current glitch isn’t something to be too involved about.

TESS adopted the Kepler mission, an area telescope that launched in 2009 and led to the invention of greater than 2,600 exoplanets throughout its almost 10 years in orbit. The seek for exoplanets is fueled by our curiosity as as to if one other Earth-like liveable planet exists someplace within the galaxy, and if life on Earth might be replicated within the huge cosmos.

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