Hubble sidelined a few weeks back due to a gyroscopic failure which stopped it from functioning accurately. Surprisingly, Hubble came out of its safe mode while it was expected to fail sometime this year.
NASA performed some difficult activities to get the telescope back to its state. To put it in layman's terms, you can call it jiggling around, said Hubble's operation manager, Patrick Crouse.
The space agency stated that the team would be performing a series of tests to analyze the performance of the gyroscope under conditions similar to that of regular science observations along with moving to, locking on to a target, and performing precision pointing.
Hubble now being 28-years-old has faced issues with its gyroscope before. Six of them have been replaced in the year 2009 by the Shuttle Astronauts on the final servicing mission. Three of them are now considered not fit for use.
Facebook Conversations