NASA confirms that #Hubble will switch to one-gyroscope mode after the increasingly erratic behavior of gyro 3 caused the observatory to repeatedly go into safe mode.
Hubble will continue doing great science, but with somewhat reduced efficiency. It will need more time to slew and lock onto science targets. There is also a limit to the fraction of the sky it can observe at any one time (although it will have access to the full sky over the course of a year).
@kellylepo Will they shutdown the other good remaining gyro? If so, what is the likelihood of it seizing (i.e. not able to re-accelerate to 19.2K RPM when asked to do so)? In my career, we were always nervous about S/D equipment failing to start when needed, to the point where we test ran whatever device/system to confirm availability.
@GlennEJP I think, based on what I heard in today's press conference, they are keeping the second good gyro powered on, but I don't have any of the technical details.
I'm glad that switching #Hubble to single-gyro pointing was not necessary until now; because the telescope did important observations of the #DARTMission impact and its aftermath through last year.
I dunno if it helps but just adding some (possible) context: I notice he's from Chicago and that's sort of a meme, around here (I assume due to the number of Greek restaurants around). You never (that I noticed, at least; I could be wrong) actually pronounce it (as the article's just text) so I think he was just making a joke.
Speaking of the article, it was a really interesting! It definitely makes sense but I'd never even thought about upkeep for the Hubble.
@WammKD Very possible he was making a joke, but I have never interacted with him and I'm at the point where I'm not giving anyone the benefit of the doubt on here.
Les milliardaires techbros libertariens sont vraiment la plaie de l'humanité.
Les déchets volants de Musk pourrissent les images scientifiques de Hubble 😱
Si la Terre est entre lui et le soleil, il a pas forcément besoin de pointer pile dans le dos.
Un peu de travers, avec toujours la Terre hors du champs, mais un poil à raz pour voir des satellites ?
J'y crois moyen. Vu la focale de hubble tu dois avoir de la lumière émise par la terre qui rentre par le bout du tube bien longtemps avant que celle ci entre dans le champs.
Complètement a l'instinct je dirais même que pile perpendiculaire à la surface c'est déjà pollué.
Je pense que hubble ne voit pas starlink pour le moment (c'est prévu des orbites plus hautes et là oui, ça posera problème)
Mais ya bien plus d'autres objets dans son champs que le jouets de musk :)
It is 15 years since human hands touched NASA's Hubble Space Telescope for the last time. Michael Good (on the end of the shuttle's Remote Manipulator System) works to refurbish and upgrade NASA's Hubble Space Telescope during Servicing Mission 4. Image credit NASA Today, more than three decades after its launch in 1990, Hubble continues to send stunning images back to Earth and conduct groundbreaking science.
#OTD in 2009, the final #Hubble servicing mission launched. SM4 had an ambitious list of tasks designed to bring Hubble to the apex of its scientific capabilities and ensure it would operate for many years to come. (1/3) 🧵
During SM4 astronauts conducted five spacewalks to install two new instruments, repair two other instruments, and replace key components like gyroscopes and batteries. They also prolonged its life by boosting Hubble to a higher orbit. (2/3)
SM4 left Hubble at the peak of its scientific capability, and prepared it for many years of further scientific discovery. Hubble is now expected to continue science operations well into the 2030s. Credit: NASA (3/3)
An asteroid wanders through this image of galaxy UGC 12158 captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble took multiple exposures of the galaxy, causing the foreground asteroid to appear as a series of bright white dashes. The curved path is due to parallax as Hubble orbits the Earth.
I came across this delightful video this afternoon when going through some old slides and paused what I was doing to watch the whole thing.
Here is a supercut of 18 astronomy visualizations from @spacetelescope, using computer simulations and Hubble images to create 3D flythroughs of objects in space.