The SOHO mission is now back under scientists’ control

May 12, 2012 08:38 GMT  ·  By
This image of a coronal mass ejection, snapped by SOHO on November 6, 1997, is one of the observatory's most iconic views of the Sun
   This image of a coronal mass ejection, snapped by SOHO on November 6, 1997, is one of the observatory's most iconic views of the Sun

A technical glitch that affected the operations of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) this week has been fixed, officials from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) report. The spacecraft is now out of its safe mode.

While in this protective mode, the probe oriented its arrays towards the Sun, in order to ensure it maintains its optimal power levels. This allowed experts to conduct the necessary recovery operations, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) SOHO project scientists Joe Gurman says.

The spacecraft was able to snap a new image of the Sun yesterday, May 11, and relayed it back to Earth successfully. At this point, mission controllers are still unsure as to what exactly caused the glitch, or what its root cause may be, Space reports.

“Not quite everything is up and running, but the spacecraft is back. The coronagraph is producing data again, and the instruments that are still operating will be on by Monday,” Gurman says.