Hubble Space Telescope Is In Safe Mode After Gyro Failure

It was originally asserted that the telescope required three working gyros. Later a method was devised to operate using two. [1]<p>Background information describing Hubble&#x27;s Pointing Control System.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.spacetelescope.org&#x2F;about&#x2F;general&#x2F;gyroscopes&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.spacetelescope.org&#x2F;about&#x2F;general&#x2F;gyroscopes&#x2F;</a><p>[1] 2005 article: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.newscientist.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;dn7051-gyro-sacrifice-may-extend-hubbles-life" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.newscientist.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;dn7051-gyro-sacrifice-m...</a>

Maybe someone who knows satellites can help here. I assume with one gyro the satellite still has pointing function because one gyro senses in 3 axis, but that if that one gyro were to go it would no longer know where it was pointing or perhaps without enough accuracy for science.<p>But... it’s a telescope. Couldn’t it determine direction from images received from a spotting or wide angle lens? Does it not have one?

“No longer in operation” - not strictly true. Looks like it will return to operation soon, but in 1-gyro mode, which means its operations will be restricted.

I know the shuttle is long gone but are we at the point where robotic repair could be an option. The Hubble might be out of date but that would be a great exercise in developing repair tech.

Hubble has been in the orbit since 1990, out of curiosity, what is the designated program life and what replacements are scheduled?

Can`t wait for James Webb telescope to be launched! And I`m a bit anxious about the process of putting it safely into space.

Would it be possible to dock a second satellite, with new gyros, to he deorbiting rendevouz ring they installed a few years ago?

Scott Manley released an excellent video today about what this really means in the context of Hubble&#x27;s various attitude sensing and control systems: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=MY169HtCazE" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=MY169HtCazE</a>

What about these two other, very similar space telescopes that were made available by some intelligence service (CIA?) to NASA?

Oh no :( Safe mode is bad! The pictures will be limited to 640x480x256. Looking into the neighborhood will not be possible, too.

Url changed from <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;Twitter.com&#x2F;NASAWatch&#x2F;status&#x2F;1049111536550273024" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;Twitter.com&#x2F;NASAWatch&#x2F;status&#x2F;1049111536550273024</a>, which points to this.