In order to maintain the telescope’s functionality and prolong its life, a major operational change has been announced by Nasa for the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble is being changed to one-gyro mode, where only one of its gyroscopes will be used while another is held in reserve.
Hubble had six new gyros put in during the fifth and final space shuttle servicing mission in 2009. Currently, three of those gyros remain in operation, one of which has developed some problems. The Nasa team will keep a close eye on this affected gyro.
“While Hubble uses three gyros for optimal efficiency, it can carry out scientific observations with just a single gyro,” says Nasa. Almost two decades ago, a plan was created that prompted them to make this choice thus leading to the decision of shifting to single-gyro mode. This particular way was noted as an avenue that could lengthen hubble’s usefulness over time since it would still give constant scientific observations even if it were down to less than 3 working ones.
During 2005-2009 period, Hubble operated under two-gyro mode which little differed from one-gyro mode. One-gyro operations were successfully demonstrated in 2008 for a short period without affecting the quality of scientific observations.
This new operational mode is part of Nasa’s continued efforts aimed at addressing the needs of an aging telescope as well as ensuring it continues providing crucial scientific data. Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided profound knowledge about our universe and is still an important instrument for astronomers across the globe..
