Hubble Shows Its Age

Although its fate is still being debated, the Hubble Space Telescope continues to collect data using its four onboard scientific instruments—that is until last week, when one of those instruments, used to help astronomers study solar objects in fine detail, stopped working.

NASA announced late last week that the instrument, the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, shut down Tuesday after what the agency’s engineers believe to be a problem with the device’s power supply. The instrument was installed during a servicing mission in 1997 with an anticipated five-year operating life. It suffered a similar power failure in 2001 and has been using a backup system since then.

The spectroscope accounts for 30% of the Hubble scientific observation program time—time that NASA will now fill with programs that use the remaining three instruments. In the past, the spectroscope has helped scientists to measure the chemical composition of an extrasolar planet’s atmosphere, confirm the age of the universe, and catalog supermassive black holes.

NASA is evaluating ways to recover use of the spectrograph and has set up a review board to investigate what caused the instrument to suspend its function. Prior to its failure, NASA had no plans to replace or service it during any future servicing missions. A final decision on what NASA will do is expected in the coming weeks.