NASA has announced that the malfunctioning hardware of the Hubble Space Telescope is beyond repair. However, they have an alternative plan for this “champion.”
In recent days, the Hubble Space Telescope – NASA’s leading instrument in deep space exploration missions – was forced to pause operations after encountering issues with its gyroscopes.
During a press conference held in the early hours of June 5 (Vietnam time), NASA stated that the malfunction is irreparable, leaving this famous space observatory with only 2 out of 6 gyroscopes operational.
Hubble Space Telescope – (Photo: NASA).
According to Space.com, the gyroscopes provide a reference system for Hubble to determine its orientation and how that orientation will change as the telescope moves across the sky.
However, this does not mean that NASA’s 34-year-old telescope has to cease its journey. NASA engineers have devised another plan for the “champion” to continue its mission until 2035.
This plan involves operating with only one gyroscope, “saving” the other for backup.
The gyroscope system of the telescope – (Photo: NASA).
Although Hubble is equipped with 6 gyroscopes, it typically operates with only 3 at a time, reserving the remaining 3 as backups.
There have been times when the observatory operated in a mode with just 2 gyroscopes, utilizing other integrated sensors to compensate for the third device.
Hubble also has an optional mode that uses just 1 gyroscope, with minimal performance differences compared to the 2-gyroscope mode.
“Operationally, we believe this is the best approach for Hubble throughout this decade and the next, as most of the observations it makes will be completely unaffected,” said Mark Clampin, Director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division and Science Mission Directorate.
Of course, there will be some limitations with this option. It will take longer to switch from one scientific target to the next, potentially reducing planning efficiency by about 12%.
Gyroscope issues have been a persistent challenge for Hubble throughout its operational decades. NASA astronauts have attempted to replace a total of 22 gyroscopes for the device, with 9 of those attempts being unsuccessful.
By around 2035, regardless of whether the remaining gyroscopes remain stable or not, that could still mark the end of Hubble’s journey, as increasing atmospheric drag after decades of operation could cause the telescope to fall into the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up.
NASA has been exploring ways to prevent that fate, including a proposed plan to boost Hubble’s orbit through a crewed SpaceX Dragon mission, but nothing has been implemented at this time.
Three Decades as the “King of the Skies”
Although there is now a more powerful space observatory in operation, the James Webb Space Telescope (which began operations in 2022), Hubble remains NASA’s number one champion for what it has accomplished.
Before James Webb took to the skies, Hubble was the most powerful observatory from 1990 until now.
“Hubble has provided us with clear, detailed views, reaching further than any predecessor. Hubble has charted the evolution of galaxies, stars, nebulae, comets, exoplanets, and their moons, confirming the existence of black holes at the centers of galaxies,” NASA describes.
