Engineers and scientists working on the recovery team brought NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope out of safe mode and restored it to normal mode late Tues., August 29. The observatory's three science instruments were successfully tested, clearing the way for science observations to resume today, Thurs., August 31. This means Spitzer is back on nominal operations.

After an unexpected reboot of Spitzer's main onboard computer on August 18, the spacecraft autonomously followed pre-programmed procedures, switched to the backup electronics system, and entered safe mode. After detailed analysis of the spacecraft's telemetry data, the Spitzer recovery team found no hardware or software problem to explain the unplanned reboot. The Spitzer project office decided that the best option is to leave the observatory on its backup electronics system. The team believes the primary system is still in good condition and would function properly if needed.