As a large reflecting telescope, the Hubble has helped us expand our knowledge of the cosmos for over three decades, a remarkably long run for a man-made spacecraft. Some of its major contributions include the discovery of two moons of Pluto, the rate of the expansion of the universe, and determining the age of the cosmos.
Throughout its career, the aging telescope has been experiencing some problems and challenges, since it passed its actual use-by date years ago. Its technology is now very old and there is a danger that it may go offline permanently. Just recently, NASA was forced to switch it on safe mode due to a glitch in one of its components.
Gyroscope Glitch
On November 19, three gyroscopes from the Hubble Space Telescope began providing faulty readings. These gyroscopes were a trio that lived on from an original set of six. These devices use either circulating beams of light or spinning wheels to make sure that an object faces the direction that it needs to face. Incorrect gyroscope readings on the telescope can therefore affect the scientific measurements.
On that same day, the iconic observatory entered safe mode which is programmed to happen automatically when some issues arise within the telescope. The NASA team was able to bring it back online the following day, but things were not looking good shortly after.
Gyroscope issues sent Hubble into another safe mode situation on November 21, but the team was able to bring it back once more shortly after. However, the same issue rose again on November 23, causing the observatory to retreat to its dark corner once again.
The most recent safe mode entry persisted for longer than the previous two cases. However, it was not too worrying since this is not the first time that issues with the gyroscopes have led to a shutdown.
The spacecraft can be reconfigured to operate with just one gyroscope, if needed. Although six new gyros were installed in 2009 during a space shuttle servicing mission, only three are operational at present, including the one that experiences fluctuations. Hubble can still continue making observations with only one gyroscope, and it only uses three gyros for maximum efficiency.
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Restoration Plans
On December 7, NASA confirmed its plan to restore the space telescope once more for its science operation. It was announced after a weeklong delay in its mission to investigate the faultygyro. This time, the restoration mission will involve all the three gyroscopes.
As of December 8, NASA reported that Hubble's two main cameras, Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, resumes science observations.
The agency clarified that Hubble's instruments and the observatory itself remain stable and in good condition. The operations team actively runs tests to identify and characterize the gyroscope issue and work towards finding effective solutions.
Based on the performance observed during the tests, NASA has decided to operate the gyroscopes in a higher-precision mode during science observations. The team also plans to restore operations to the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph later this month.
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