MOSCOW (Sputnik) — New Horizons is a NASA spacecraft launched in 2006, designed to study Pluto.
"The New Horizons spacecraft experienced an anomaly the afternoon of July 4 that led to a loss of communication with Earth," NASA said in a statement.
According to NASA, the spacecraft’s autopilot recognized a problem and switched New Horizons to "safe mode," after which the spacecraft began to transmit telemetry to help engineers on Earth diagnose the problem.
Communication has since been reestablished and the spacecraft functions normally, NASA said. The team is now working to return New Horizons to the initial flight plan.
The full recovery of the spacecraft and its operation is expected to take up to several days, with New Horizons temporarily unable to collect science data.
