spacetoday.net: New Horizons goes into safe mode

Posted: Sun, Jul 5, 2015, 11:34 AM ET (1534 GMT)
New Horizons illustration (JHUAPL)

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft went into a protective safe mode Saturday, less than ten days before the spacecraft makes its closest approach to Pluto. The spacecraft stopped communicating with the ground at 1:54 pm EDT (1754 GMT) Saturday, resuming communications at 3:15 pm EDT (1915 GMT). NASA said in a statement late Saturday evening that the spacecraft suffered an anomaly with its primary computer, putting the spacecraft into a safe mode as its autopilot switched to a backup computer to resume communications. Restoring normal operations could take "one to several days," according to the statement, disrupting observations of Pluto during that time as the spacecraft approaches. New Horizons will fly past Pluto on the morning of July 14.