CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Hubble Space Telescope’s premier camera has shut down because of a hardware problem.
NASA said the camera stopped working Tuesday. Hubble’s three other science instruments are still working fine, with celestial observations continuing.
The third incarnation of the wide-field camera was installed by spacewalking astronauts in 2009. The camera has backup electronics that could be called into action, if necessary, according to NASA.
The camera has captured images of stars and galaxies and assisted in deep sky surveys. It’s also studied objects in our own solar system, discovering some of the tiny moons around Pluto, as well as a 14th moon around Neptune. It takes pictures in both visible and ultraviolet light, as well as near infrared.