TESS Resumes Normal Operations
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey (TESS) began its return to normal operations on Thursday, Oct. 13, at around 6:30 p.m. EDT. Engineers successfully powered up the instrument, and the spacecraft resumed its regular fine-pointing mode. The team expects that TESS will resume science observations later today, and all science data stored on the spacecraft will be downlinked at the next opportunity.
TESS entered into safe mode on Oct. 10 following a reset of its flight computer. The team will spend the next several days analyzing data to determine the cause.
Launched in 2018, TESS has been scanning almost the entire sky looking for planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS has also uncovered other cosmic phenomena, including star-shredding black holes and stellar oscillations. Read more about TESS discoveries at www.nasa.gov/tess.
Media contact: Alise Fisher, NASA Headquarters / Claire Andreoli, NASA Goddard
Oct. 12 Update
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) entered into safe mode on Monday, Oct. 10. The spacecraft is in a stable configuration that suspends science observations. Preliminary investigation revealed that the TESS flight computer experienced a reset.
The TESS operations team reported that science data not yet sent to the ground appears to be safely stored on the satellite. Recovery procedures and investigations are underway to resume normal operations, which could take several days.
TESS launched in April 2018 and has since discovered more than 250 exoplanets – worlds beyond our solar system – and thousands of additional candidates. The agency will provide additional updates at www.nasa.gov/tess.
Media contact: Alise Fisher, NASA Headquarters / Claire Andreoli, NASA Goddard