An STS-125 crew penis aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis captured this image of NASA ’s Hubble Space Telescope on May 19 , 2009.NASA
The darling Hubble Space Telescope will before long be changing the way it operates by limiting the speed at which it can aim young objects in guild to preserve its life for as long as possible .
Hubble has been havingproblems with its gyrosover the last year , causing the spacecraft to go into safe mode several times while teams on the ground worked to address the publication . The gyros , or gyroscopes , of which Hubble in the first place had six , are used to help the telescope turn and lock on to the target of study such as a star or extragalactic nebula . They lick using an super tight - whirl wheel that is sealed inside a piston chamber that floats in a compact , mucilaginous fluid . This countenance them to measure the speed at which Hubble is moving , so that it can accurately lock onto new targets .
An STS-125 crew member aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis captured this image of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on May 19, 2009.NASA
Hubble originally used three gyros at a sentence , with the other three installed as backups . Over the years , various gyros have worn out and been replaced , leave only three operating . Now , as one of the stay gyros has been go through continue issue , the Hubble team has decide to flip to using just one gyro at a clock time so as to preserve them for as long as possible .
The “ one - gyroscope fashion ” will still allow Hubble to make skill observations and to continue to take beautiful pictures of space . The downside of the way is that it will take longer for the scope to move from one target to the next , so there will be a decrease in the amount of observations it can make . It will also mean that Hubble ca n’t remark targets closer than Mars , such as the moon or Venus , although Hubble has rarely observed these targets in the past anyway .
“ There are some limitations , but they ’re not what I would call serious obstructer to keep on science operations , ” said Mark Clampin , director of NASA ’s Astrophysics Division , in a briefing .
Clampin also emphasized that the agency expects Hubble to continue operating through the 2020s and into the 2030s . There have been previous studies of whether commercial engineering like SpaceX ’s Polaris could be used toboost Hubble , raising its orbit in edict to extend its lifespan . Clampin said they were not planning to act on those plans flop now , but they may do so in the future .
NASA congressman also made it clear that they want to continue mesh Hubble and get use of its incredible capabilities : “ We do not see Hubble as being on its last legs , and we do see it as a very able observation tower up to of doing exciting science , ” say Patrick Crouse , project coach for the Hubble Space Telescope .
The plan is to transition into one - gyroscope mode by reconfiguring both the spacecraft and some ground systems , with the aim to restart skill operations in mid - June .
