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Hubble’s main camera down

The main camera on the Hubble Space Telescope has suspended operations, and remains so as engineers troubleshoot the problem.

According to NASA, at 8:31 p.m. EST Feb. 28 (01:31 GMT March 1), 2019, the Advanced Camera for Surveys, or ACS, suspended its operations when an error was detected while the instrument was performing a routine boot procedure. “The error indicated that software inside the camera had not loaded correctly,” a statement from NASA reads. “A team of instrument system engineers, flight software experts and flight operations personnel quickly organized to download and analyze instrument diagnostic information.

They have not yet pinpointed the cause of the problem. The telescope has other cameras, however, though one of which had problems several months ago.

It is ten years since the last shuttle repair mission. That mission was expected to extend the telescope’s life for five years. Thus, the end Hubble’s life is getting closer and closer.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

6 comments

  • geoffc

    Don’t worry your pretty little head… Webb will be ready any minute now… Wait for it, wait for it… Any second now…

    Well maybe by 2030? I hope?

  • Col Beausabre

    No, there will be no Webb. No FLOP-G. No SLS. No Dragon. No Dreamchaser. Elon Musk will be reduced to his proper place in the New Order – pauperdom by taxation. Bernie and AOC say the money is needed down here for the Green New Deal. Sorry.

  • wayne

    The Marxist Alexandria Ortega Castro….

    “Taxman”
    The Beatles
    8-5-66 (remastered 2009)
    https://youtu.be/l0zaebtU-CA
    2:38

    “If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street,
    If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat.
    If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat,
    If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet.”

  • wayne

    “The Hubble Space Telescope and the Visionaries Who Built It”
    Robert Zimmerman; WGBH Forum, Boston
    https://youtu.be/5mNJAf83YTs
    (1:24:30)

  • Col Beausabre

    Wayne, It is said that Faraday once had a delegation of the Great and Good visit his laboratory. After a tour and a demonstration, the prime minister asked, “But Mr. Faraday, of what practical good is this electricity ?” to which the great scientist replied, “I have no idea my lord, but I can predict that one day you will tax it.”

  • wayne

    Col Beausabre-
    Most excellent!

    The Stamp Act of 1765
    https://youtu.be/O9JJuVxtNOc
    2:17

    Anyway….
    Hubble = great instrument. It’s eventual non-functioning, will be a great loss.

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