NASA has delayed plans to launch a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope because an onboard computer stopped working over the weekend, officials said today.
The mission, planned for launch Oct. 14, is postponed until at least early next year. In the meantime, the telescope is unable to transmit any science data to the ground.
Engineers at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt are working this week to transfer the work of Hubble's science data downlink computer repair to a backup system. But the backup has not been tested since Hubble was launched in 1990, and it's uncertain whether the transfer will work, said Susan Hendrix, a spokeswoman for the Hubble program at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.
In either case, NASA officials said, the launch will have to be delayed while engineers assess the problems, test replacement parts and plan for possible attempts to repair or replace the computer.
That will come as an acute disappointment for hundreds of scientists and engineers in Maryland who work with Hubble at Goddard or at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.
Hendrix said the problem arose just after 8 p.m. Saturday when "Side A" of the telescope's scientific data downlink computer -- called the Control Unit/Science Data Formatter -- experienced what Hendrix called a "hardware failure."
The telescope went into a "safing" mode, which shut down the scientific instruments.
Side A of the computer has been operating reliably since the observatory was launched in 1990.
"There is a Side B, and they're looking at transitioning to Side B," she said. That would restore the telescope's science observations and downlinks. But the backup hardware hasn't been switched on in more than 18 years in space, and engineers aren't certain it will work.
The changeover requires completing a "transition flight readiness review," and switching five other related devices over to Side B, Hendrix said. And that takes time.
"They're hoping to know something by the end of the week if they can bring up Side B," she said.
NASA was planning for an Oct. 14 launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on a mission to upgrade and repair the observatory.
The long-awaited servicing mission is to be the final visit by astronauts to the orbiting telescope. Their goal is to extend its working life at least another five years, and to expand its power.
The astronauts' work list already includes replacement of batteries and gyroscopes, the installation of two new scientific instruments, and attempts to repair two other instruments that have broken down since the last servicing mission in 2002.
Seven astronauts have been training for more than a year for the $900 million repair mission, and engineers at Goddard have designed more than 150 new tools for the four spacewalkers to use.
Now mission planners will have to decide whether to ask astronauts to attempt to replace the failed computer and restore its redundancy by installing a backup currently in storage on the ground.
If they do, it will require additional testing, planning and training time. NASA already has scheduled five seven-hour spacewalks for astronauts to make a list of repairs and upgrades.
source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-hubble0929,0,6468448.story
Click here to find out more! Text size: increase text sizedecrease text size Malfunctions on Hubble computer delay service launch
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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Local 2 Investigates Computer Repair Companies
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Local 2 investigates computer repair companies. Hard drives, software, mega pixels and gigabytes -- when it comes to computers, many are clueless about what makes them run.
tonight's hidden camera investigation, investigative reporter Amy Davis took a desktop computer to one repair shop after another to find out who's repairing your computer and who's just cleaning out your wallet.Dan Wallach tinkers and teaches at Rice University's Computer Security Lab as an associate professor; but when it comes to computers you might call him "Nerd, geek, something like that," Wallach said, finishing the sentence.To family and friends, Wallach is "Mr. Fix-it," but we asked him to fix our computer so it would not work."I'm just gonna put it on kind of half-hazard," said Wallach pulling on a cable to the hard drive.We took the computer in for repairs all over the Houston area to find out one thing."I'd like to know if you could tell me what's wrong with it," Davis asked a technician with a hidden camera rolling."Just like I don't really know how to fix a car, a whole lot of people don't really know how to fix a computer," Wallach said.College junior George Morrison is one of those people."It was running a little slow," Morrison said about his laptop. "I was worried it was our Internet connection."Morrison took his laptop in for a check-up. When he got it back, it wouldn't boot up at all."We rely on the people who do that not to rip us off," Morrison said.So, what would computer technicians tell us?We called on five companies, using BBB complaints to select the businesses.We made appointments for two companies to come to the house. But, first we took our computer to Best Buy's Geek Squad and Circuit City's Firedog."It just stopped booting up right," our employee explained to the technician behind the counter.Remember -- we know what's wrong. The computer won't boot up because we loosened the cable to the computer's hard drive."The fix for this computer is easy. Push it back in," Wallach said.Back at Best Buy, it took a Geek Squad tech 36 minutes to properly diagnose the problem. He did it while I waited and for no charge.At Circuit City's Firedog, it wasn't that fast and it wasn't free."It's $59.99," the Firedog technician told our employee."$59.99, just do to a diagnostic?" the employee asked."Yes, ma'am," he replied."I mean, if you turn it on, you'll see what it's doing," the KPRC employee said. "That might tell you right away what the problem is." "Well, I mean, it'll show me what the problem is, but you know it could be a hard drive, it could be a mother board, it could be different types of things," the technician said.So, we left the computer overnight. Firedog called us the next day. Technicians found and fixed the loose cable by pushing it in. With tax, it cost us just under $65.Skypot Computer Center on Bissonnet checked out our computer for free.An employee wrote out what it would cost us to fix it -- $269.95 was Skypot’s cost to install a new operating system.When we went back to the store to talk with the tech about the diagnosis, he hid in the back and refused to come out and talk.The store's owner sent us a letter, saying his shop would never have made the recommendation we got in writing. He even doubts we took the computer to his business, even though it's all on camera. You can read the letter in its entirety by clicking here.We scheduled a house call with The Computer Clinic in Katy so we could see exactly how the tech diagnosed our problem.In 10 minutes, without ever removing the computer's cover, he told us this."So it looks like your drive is probably … looks like it's gone," said The Computer Clinic tech on hidden camera."So what do you recommend?" the KPRC employee asked him."I would recommend that we put an operating system on here so you can get it running," the technician said.The diagnosis cost us $70. The tech told us the new operating system would come to $243.63."Did you ever think about checking any cables? Maybe it's just a loose cable," Davis asked the technician on his way out of the house."Uh, we didn't. I didn't look in there because I figured whenever it says there's nothing coming up, that's it. Unless maybe it does. I can look at it right now," the repairman offered.The Computer Clinic said they would have noticed the loose cable once they got our computer to the shop. They said we wouldn't have been charged for the operating system we didn't need.The computer technician for Bits & Bytes was in the house for just four minutes when he spotted the problem."So far from what I’ve seen, the hard drive cable here wasn't pushed down all the way," said technician Derrek Labrosse.Bits & Bytes charges by the hour. Our repair cost us $81."Well, it's an hour, so if you want me to stick around," Labrosse offered.So how do you know who to trust? Just like shopping for a car mechanic, you have to shop around.Check complaints with the Better Business Bureau and make sure you tell the shop not to do any work until you approve the charges.If the diagnosis is free, take your computer to a couple of businesses to find out if the diagnosis is the same.
Source: http://www.click2houston.com/investigates/17422414/detail.html
tonight's hidden camera investigation, investigative reporter Amy Davis took a desktop computer to one repair shop after another to find out who's repairing your computer and who's just cleaning out your wallet.Dan Wallach tinkers and teaches at Rice University's Computer Security Lab as an associate professor; but when it comes to computers you might call him "Nerd, geek, something like that," Wallach said, finishing the sentence.To family and friends, Wallach is "Mr. Fix-it," but we asked him to fix our computer so it would not work."I'm just gonna put it on kind of half-hazard," said Wallach pulling on a cable to the hard drive.We took the computer in for repairs all over the Houston area to find out one thing."I'd like to know if you could tell me what's wrong with it," Davis asked a technician with a hidden camera rolling."Just like I don't really know how to fix a car, a whole lot of people don't really know how to fix a computer," Wallach said.College junior George Morrison is one of those people."It was running a little slow," Morrison said about his laptop. "I was worried it was our Internet connection."Morrison took his laptop in for a check-up. When he got it back, it wouldn't boot up at all."We rely on the people who do that not to rip us off," Morrison said.So, what would computer technicians tell us?We called on five companies, using BBB complaints to select the businesses.We made appointments for two companies to come to the house. But, first we took our computer to Best Buy's Geek Squad and Circuit City's Firedog."It just stopped booting up right," our employee explained to the technician behind the counter.Remember -- we know what's wrong. The computer won't boot up because we loosened the cable to the computer's hard drive."The fix for this computer is easy. Push it back in," Wallach said.Back at Best Buy, it took a Geek Squad tech 36 minutes to properly diagnose the problem. He did it while I waited and for no charge.At Circuit City's Firedog, it wasn't that fast and it wasn't free."It's $59.99," the Firedog technician told our employee."$59.99, just do to a diagnostic?" the employee asked."Yes, ma'am," he replied."I mean, if you turn it on, you'll see what it's doing," the KPRC employee said. "That might tell you right away what the problem is." "Well, I mean, it'll show me what the problem is, but you know it could be a hard drive, it could be a mother board, it could be different types of things," the technician said.So, we left the computer overnight. Firedog called us the next day. Technicians found and fixed the loose cable by pushing it in. With tax, it cost us just under $65.Skypot Computer Center on Bissonnet checked out our computer for free.An employee wrote out what it would cost us to fix it -- $269.95 was Skypot’s cost to install a new operating system.When we went back to the store to talk with the tech about the diagnosis, he hid in the back and refused to come out and talk.The store's owner sent us a letter, saying his shop would never have made the recommendation we got in writing. He even doubts we took the computer to his business, even though it's all on camera. You can read the letter in its entirety by clicking here.We scheduled a house call with The Computer Clinic in Katy so we could see exactly how the tech diagnosed our problem.In 10 minutes, without ever removing the computer's cover, he told us this."So it looks like your drive is probably … looks like it's gone," said The Computer Clinic tech on hidden camera."So what do you recommend?" the KPRC employee asked him."I would recommend that we put an operating system on here so you can get it running," the technician said.The diagnosis cost us $70. The tech told us the new operating system would come to $243.63."Did you ever think about checking any cables? Maybe it's just a loose cable," Davis asked the technician on his way out of the house."Uh, we didn't. I didn't look in there because I figured whenever it says there's nothing coming up, that's it. Unless maybe it does. I can look at it right now," the repairman offered.The Computer Clinic said they would have noticed the loose cable once they got our computer to the shop. They said we wouldn't have been charged for the operating system we didn't need.The computer technician for Bits & Bytes was in the house for just four minutes when he spotted the problem."So far from what I’ve seen, the hard drive cable here wasn't pushed down all the way," said technician Derrek Labrosse.Bits & Bytes charges by the hour. Our repair cost us $81."Well, it's an hour, so if you want me to stick around," Labrosse offered.So how do you know who to trust? Just like shopping for a car mechanic, you have to shop around.Check complaints with the Better Business Bureau and make sure you tell the shop not to do any work until you approve the charges.If the diagnosis is free, take your computer to a couple of businesses to find out if the diagnosis is the same.
Source: http://www.click2houston.com/investigates/17422414/detail.html
iYogi Announces Launch of Monitoring and Performance Tool For SMBs
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Tuesday, September 9, 2008
New York, NY – August 26, 2008 – a leading provider of technical support services with horizons in the US, UK, Canada and Australia – today announced the launch of its exclusive server monitoring tool for small businesses. The new product offers integrated technology solutions to surmount the users’ unique IT support requirements thereby enabling them to derive and share information, data, enable network performance analysis, and security trends critical to plan and manage their set of servers – 24x7.
Uday Challu, iYogi’s CEO commented, “Holding a significant niche for itself in the computer support industry, iYogi has always known to be on the forefront of adapting breakthrough technology to exceed customer service expectations. This time we have developed a tool offering value-add functionality which will help small business customers maximize the business outcomes of IT.”
iYogi’s monitoring tool provides real time observation and monitoring solutions to ensure more robust and reliable IT infrastructure for small buinesses. Small Business owners also get a comprehensive assesment of their IT environment to meet technology needs with the scalability for future growth and create preventative measures based on quick analysis of network device alerts, pre-failure indicators, performance benchmark and security issues.
The new Monitoring and performance tool will provide small businesses with the opportunity to test all technical and non-technical aspects of their servers and help them to strengthen overall IT infrastructure. The array of services will include: Patch Management, Security Auditing, Site Inventory, Real Time Alerting Script Based Management, and Remote Management for all critical server issues.
“Irrespective of the business being small or large, when the consumer chooses iYogi, he leverages the potential of an elite taskforce of Microsoft Certified System Engineers and Cisco Certified Network Associates, ready to service their critical assets, using the most advanced network asset tracking and Performance monitoring”, adds Challu.
Another factor where the Company aims to distinguish itself from its competitors is product pricing. Embracing the concept of service quality, iYogi offers competitively priced technical support services at no-haggle, low prices.
As for its small business support, the Company has integrated its exclusive Monitoring and Alerting Services under one price umbrella of just $480 annually. Per server i.e. $49.99 per month. The price is certainly hard to find anywhere else.
Uday Challu, iYogi’s CEO commented, “Holding a significant niche for itself in the computer support industry, iYogi has always known to be on the forefront of adapting breakthrough technology to exceed customer service expectations. This time we have developed a tool offering value-add functionality which will help small business customers maximize the business outcomes of IT.”
iYogi’s monitoring tool provides real time observation and monitoring solutions to ensure more robust and reliable IT infrastructure for small buinesses. Small Business owners also get a comprehensive assesment of their IT environment to meet technology needs with the scalability for future growth and create preventative measures based on quick analysis of network device alerts, pre-failure indicators, performance benchmark and security issues.
The new Monitoring and performance tool will provide small businesses with the opportunity to test all technical and non-technical aspects of their servers and help them to strengthen overall IT infrastructure. The array of services will include: Patch Management, Security Auditing, Site Inventory, Real Time Alerting Script Based Management, and Remote Management for all critical server issues.
“Irrespective of the business being small or large, when the consumer chooses iYogi, he leverages the potential of an elite taskforce of Microsoft Certified System Engineers and Cisco Certified Network Associates, ready to service their critical assets, using the most advanced network asset tracking and Performance monitoring”, adds Challu.
Another factor where the Company aims to distinguish itself from its competitors is product pricing. Embracing the concept of service quality, iYogi offers competitively priced technical support services at no-haggle, low prices.
As for its small business support, the Company has integrated its exclusive Monitoring and Alerting Services under one price umbrella of just $480 annually. Per server i.e. $49.99 per month. The price is certainly hard to find anywhere else.
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