NASA's James Webb Space Telescope resumes operations after instrument glitch
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is back in form again. On January 15, one of Webb's instruments called the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) encountered an issue that subsequently led to a halt in its scientific observations. Fortunately, the telescope recovered from the technical glitch and resumed normal operations on Monday (January 30).
Why does this story matter?
- The Webb telescope took to space in December 2021 and has been conducting scientific observations since July 2022.
- Touted as the world's largest, most powerful, and most complex space telescope ever built, Webb has been offering spectacular glimpses of the cosmos.
- However, this is not the first time that the powerful $10 billion instrument has faced problems.
What was the issue with Webb's NIRISS instrument?
On January 15, there was "a communications delay" within the NIRISS instrument which caused "its flight software to time out." The glitch prevented the instrument from carrying out its observations. NASA, in a statement, confirmed that there was no indication of any danger to the hardware and that the observatory and other instruments were in good health.
What is the importance of NIRISS?
NIRISS can detect light signatures of small exoplanet atmospheres, perform high-contrast imaging, or examine faraway galaxies. The instrument can normally work in four different modes, according to NASA. It can also function as a camera when other JWST instruments are busy.
NIRISS was made by Canadian Space Agency
Since Webb's NIRISS instrument was provided by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), personnel from NASA and CSA worked together to rectify the issue. After NIRISS encountered the timeout problem, its observations were paused and several tests were carried out. The tests came out positive and confirmed that the NIRISS hardware was in good condition, and the instrument was recovered on January 27.
Some observations have been rescheduled
"Following a successful test observation, the instrument resumed normal science observations on January 30," said NASA in a blog post. "Observations that were impacted by the pause in NIRISS operations will be rescheduled," it added.
There was also an issue with Webb's MIRI instrument
In August 2022, an issue arose with the grating wheel inside Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). However, MIRI could make observations while recovery operations were being carried out since the wheel was required for just one of MIRI's four observing modes. The issue was resolved in November.
