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The Hubble Space Telescope will switch to a new mode of operation that aims to prevent the space observatory from experiencing gaps in its ability to observe the universe, according to NASA officials.
The famous telescope, which captured breathtaking images of the cosmos for 34 years, traditionally works with the help of six gyroscopes. Those gyroscopes, or gyroscopes, are part of a system that controls and determines the direction the telescope is pointed, Mark Clampin, director of the astrophysics division in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said during a press conference Tuesday.
As Hubble moves in a direction to capture images of exoplanets, galaxies and other celestial phenomena, the gyroscopes measure the telescope’s speed so it arrives at the right spot for the next science observation, Clampin said.
As the telescope aged, the gyroscopes needed replacement, and six new gyroscopes were installed during the last Hubble servicing mission, which astronauts aboard NASA’s Space Shuttle carried out in 2009.
Over time, some of the gyroscopes stopped functioning, but three remained operational without changing the way the telescope worked — until now.
Erroneous readings hamper Hubble
Over the past six months, one of the three remaining gyroscopes has been returning erroneous readings, causing the telescope to go into “safe mode” repeatedly and end its observations of the universe, Clampin said.
The Hubble team was able to reset the gyroscope from the ground, but those fixes were temporary and the problem was occurring more often, said Patrick Krauss, Hubble Space Telescope project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The telescope went into safe mode on May 24 after another malfunction event with the problematic gyroscope, and remains so, Kraus said.
After careful consideration, the Hubble team decided to operate Hubble using one gyroscope, with the other functioning gyroscope kept in reserve for future use, Clampin said.
The team has long considered switching the telescope to single-gyro mode to extend its life after developing the plan more than 20 years ago.
“We believe this is our best approach to support Hubble science this decade and into the next, as most of the observations in space will be completely unaffected by this change,” Clampin said.
Hubble operated in dual-gyro mode from 2005 to 2009 and in single-gyro mode for a short time in 2008 with no impact on the quality of scientific observations, according to the agency.
The future of Hubble observations
The change doesn’t come without limitations, Cruz said.
The telescope will need more time to move and fixate on the objects it is observing, reducing its efficiency and flexibility. It also won’t be able to track moving objects that are closer to Earth than Mars, but historically Hubble has rarely observed such targets, Cruz said.
The team will now reconfigure both the telescope and the ground-based system that sends information to Hubble. The goal is for Hubble to return to routine observations by mid-June.
Before that, there was a feasibility study to assess how commercial partners could help raise Hubble to a higher orbit to buy more operating time for the telescope so that Earth’s atmosphere doesn’t drag it down for a controlled re-entry entry in 2030. The agency is considering the risks and requirements of such a maneuver, but is not moving forward with any “restart” plans at this time, Clampin said.
Hubble is expected to operate until the mid-2030s, with its space observations complementing the work of the James Webb Space Telescope and future observatories that have yet to launch, Clampin said.
“We don’t see Hubble being on its last legs,” Krauss said, “and we think it’s a very capable observatory.”
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