There NASA announced a significant change in the operation of the space telescope Hubble. The telescope will operate with a single gyroscope instead of the three usually used, to extend its operational life. This decision comes after various tests and considerations, due to ongoing problems with one of the active gyroscopes. Despite some limitations in observations, Hubble will continue to provide valuable scientific data, ensuring astronomical discoveries for many years to come.
Hubble is equipped with six gyroscopes, installed during the last service mission in 2009. However, only three of these are still functional. One of the three active gyroscopes began giving erroneous readings, forcing the telescope to enter safe mode. After examining various options, NASA decided to switch to a single-gyroscope operation mode. This mode, developed over 20 years ago, was designed to extend Hubble’s life and allows the telescope to continue its science operations despite the reduction in the number of functioning gyroscopes.
Impacts and expectations for the future
Operating with only one gyroscope results in longer pointing times and less flexibility in observation. For example, you will not be able to follow nearby moving objects. However, NASA predicts that Hubble will continue to make significant cosmic discoveries. The telescope will work in synergy with other space observatories, such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the future Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, ensuring complete coverage of the sky and allowing astronomers to gain new insights into the universe.
Hubble, launched in 1990, has already exceeded its initial life expectancy of 15 years, continuing to be a valuable resource for the scientific community. With more than 1.5 million observations and more than 20,000 published scientific papers based on his data, Hubble has contributed to many of the most significant discoveries in astronomy, such as the accelerated expansion of the universe and the evolution of galaxies in time.
