NASA has commenced efforts to resume operations of the Hubble Space Telescope, a space observatory that recently assumed safe mode due to a software error.
The space agency said Friday it plans to have the space telescope back to normal by next Thursday, following Hubble's entering safe mode last Sunday. Hubble's main computer experienced a software error, which caused the spacecraft to enter a stable state until NASA personnel can solve the issue.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center discovered the error during a software update meant to address fluctuations of Hubble's gyroscopes, which measure the spacecraft's turning speed.
The supposed software update could not enter the computer's memory due to lack of permission and in turn, caused the error. The spacecraft is now in a pre-science state as it awaits resumption of operations. NASA personnel will attempt to fix the software update for potential use in the future.