After suffering a brief setback, NASA’s Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft is scheduled to return to normal operations.
A COMPUTER GLITCH
New Horizons suffered a computer malfunction on Saturday, July 4 resulting in a temporary loss of communication between the spacecraft and the mission control team at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland.
After detecting the anomaly, the probe autonomously placed itself in safe mode, activating the craft’s backup computer and restoring communication.
RESUMING NORMAL SCIENCE OPERATIONS
Sending commands to, and receiving data from, New Horizons takes awhile due to the vast distance between the craft and Earth. Radio communication takes approximately four-and-a-half hours each way to traverse the roughly three billion miles.
Despite this communication delay, mission control and the New Horizons Anomaly Review Board were able to determine that there are no issues with hardware or software, and that the spacecraft is in good health. Investigators determined the cause of the computer glitch was a timing flaw in a command sequence. Fortunately, there are no plans to send that same command sequence again for the duration of the probe’s journey to Pluto. So hopefully the glitch won’t be replicated.
“I’m pleased that our mission team quickly identified the problem and assured the health of the spacecraft,” NASA’s Director of Planetary Science Jim Green reports. He continues, “Now – with Pluto in our sights – we’re on the verge of returning to normal operations and going for the gold.”
NASA hopes to resume normal science operations on Tuesday, July 7.
STILL ON TRACK FOR PLUTO RENDEZVOUS
The probe has been unable to gather scientific data while in safe mode. NASA says that, although some scientific observation opportunities have been lost, they do not affect the primary objectives of the probe’s mission.
Fortunately, the glitch and the craft’s time spent in safe mode do not appear to have affected New Horizon’s trajectory. NASA says the probe is still on course and is still on track for its Pluto flyby on July 14.
