NASA Spacecraft Temporarily Lost Communication with Earth
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Photo by SSPL/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — A NASA spacecraft traveling to Pluto experienced an “anomaly,” the space organization said Sunday.
The New Horizons spacecraft lost communication with Earth on Saturday, NASA said. Communication was eventually re-established and NASA determined that the spacecraft is “healthy.”
In total, communication was lost between 1:54 pm ET and 3:15pm ET on Saturday.
The craft’s autopilot recognized the issue and switched itself to the backup computer, placing it in “safe mode” and reinitiating communication with NASA.
NASA is now working to return New Horizons to its original flight plan. Recovery could take multiple days, due to the “round trip communication delay that results from operating a spacecraft almost three billion miles from Earth,” NASA said. During that time, the craft will be unable to collect science data.
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