NASA's Exoplanet Hunting Satellite Is Back In Operation

TESS satellite returns to normal mode (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA After entering an unexpected safe mode on April 24, NASA has now announced that the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has been operating normally since Friday, May 3. The exoplanet search satellite has even returned to space. Not only searching for exoplanets, TESS is also observing outer space to uncover various cosmic phenomena such as black holes that destroy stars. While correcting TESS, the operating team managed to find the cause of the automatic safe mode activity. Explained on NASA's official website, the reaction wheel from the satellite failed to emit the momentum properly so that the safe mode was triggered. This activity should have been carried out routinely to keep the satellite stable and oriented properly. This situation has also been exacerbated by a propulsion system that has not been retested since the first safe mode event. TESS did enter safe mode several times and the first occurred on April 8. At that time, observations were suddenly disrupted and the satellite entered a safe mode. Although TESS was successfully revived, the operating team still did not know the cause. Until now, the operating team is still investigating the cause of the safe mode on April 8. If the cause has been found, they will release the results of their investigation and make it a damage mitigation tool when TESS returns problematic.

TESS is a solar system environmental monitoring satellite launched since 2018. This satellite should have stopped operating, but the program was extended and the satellite was assigned with another mission. In 2020, TESS is busy monitoring all objects in space to search for exoplanets. This satellite also pays attention to various space objects that experience brightness changes, be it asteroids, stars, to galaxies other than the Milky Way.