LONDON: At the edge of our solar system, a spacecraft has put itself into safe mode, leaving it unable to gather groundbreaking new data on the famous former planet.
After its decade-long journey to the edge of our solar system, a NASA spacecraft has run into some mysterious technical problems just ten days short of when it was supposed to make its closest approach of Pluto and send back reams of unprecedented new information about the ex-planet.
On Saturday, NASA reported that New Horizons, which launched in 2006, “experienced an anomaly this afternoon that led to a loss of communication with Earth. Communication has since been re-established and the spacecraft is healthy.”
It sounds like a near miss, but it’s actually going to take a little while for mission controllers to figure out what the problem is. During the hour and 21 minutes that New Horizons’ mission operations center was out of touch with the craft, its autopilot detected a problem and switched from its backup computer and went into “safe mode” to get back in touch with Earth.
Much like computer operating systems like Windows that we’re used to, entering New Horizons’ safe mode is probably making controllers feel more anxious than safe. That’s because the craft is now temporarily unable to collect science data during the time it will take NASA to initiate a recovery plan and get New Horizons back on track, which is “expected to take from one to several days.”
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