NASA's planet hunter enters safe mode, science operations paused

NASA's planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite or TESS, has entered into safe mode, causing a temporary suspension of its science observations.

The mission team is investigating the root cause of the safe mode, which occurred on April 8 during scheduled engineering activities. Despite this setback, the satellite's overall health remains uncompromised, NASA said on Thursday.

The team hopes the spacecraft may resume its science observations in the coming days.

Our TESS spacecraft entered safe mode on April 8. The team is investigating the issue and working to return TESS to science operations. The spacecraft itself remains in good health. More: https://t.co/0EU8YJN87c pic.twitter.com/qgUUZbLth3

— NASA Universe (@NASAUniverse) April 11, 2024

Launched in 2018, TESS is designed to discover thousands of exoplanets - planets beyond our solar system - in orbit around the brightest dwarf stars in the sky. In its prime mission, the mission focused on monitoring stellar brightness across the solar neighbourhood to detect periodic dimming events indicative of planetary transits. During this two-year-long survey, TESS found 66 new exoplanets and nearly 2,100 candidates that astronomers are working to confirm.

TESS, now in an extended mission, continues to hunt exoplanets ranging from small, rocky worlds to giant planets, showcasing the diversity of planets in the galaxy.