The Hubble Space Telescope shines in a picture taken from the Space Shuttle Discovery during ... [+]
The Hubble party is still going. The 34-year-old space telescope has been experiencing technical problems, but NASA has worked out a solution that could keep the observatory running into the 2030s. Hubble will transition to a one-gyroscope operational mode designed to bypass a lingering glitch. The new mode, however, comes with some limitations. “Most of the observations it takes will be completely unaffected by this change,” said NASA Astrophysics Division director Mark Clampin in a teleconference on Tuesday.
Hubble has six gyroscopes designed to help point the telescope in the right direction to make science observations. Three of those are already out of commission. “Over the past six months, one particular gyro has increasingly returned faulty readings, causing the spacecraft to enter safe mode multiple times and suspending science observations while the telescope awaits new instructions from the ground,” NASA said in a statement on June 4. The Hubble team fixes the problem, but then it reoccurs. The most recent glitch popped up on May 24.
The pesky nature of the glitch led the agency to implement the one-gyro plan. The troublemaker gyro will go out of service while Hubble operates with a single gyro. That leaves one other functioning gyroscope in reserve. NASA developed the contingency plan over 20 years ago and even tested it out briefly in 2008 with no issues. “One-gyro mode substitutes magnetometers, sun sensors, and star trackers for the failed gyros,” NASA said in an explainer. The transition should be complete by mid-June.
The Hubble Rate Gyro Assembly contains a gyroscope and all of its associated electronics.
There will be some impacts to Hubble’s science work. “The observatory will need more time to slew and lock onto a science target and won't have as much flexibility as to where it can observe at any given time,” said NASA. “It also will not be able to track moving objects closer than Mars, though these are rare targets for Hubble.” Hubble won’t be observing the moon or Venus, for example.
The one-gyro mode marks a new phase in Hubble’s operations as NASA seeks to extend the life of the famous observatory. “I don’t actually see this as a major distraction on its ability to do important science,” Clampin said. That means we can expect more stunning images like the Pillars of Creation and this “glittering cosmic geode.” Hubble will continue to team up with other observatories, like when it partnered with the much newer James Webb Space Telescope on a sparkling view of distant galaxies.
Hubble was designed to last for at least 15 years. It’s now logged over three decades in space. It’s been repaired and updated and visited by multiple space shuttle missions over its lifespan. Eventually, Hubble will have to retire (it’s also dealing with a decaying orbit), but we could get another decade of science out of the observatory. “We do not see Hubble being on its last legs,” said project manager Patrick Crouse. It will keep on keeping on with its one gyroscope and a whole lot of support from Earth.