The Hubble telescope camera broke down; US government strike hinders repairs

The wide-field camera 3, one of the main Hubble Space Telescope instruments, broke down last Tuesday (8). As if that were not enough, NASA engineers will soon be unable to intervene on the repair because the US government is facing a halt – and, of course, NASA is a state agency and makes therefore integral part of the strike. .

Hubble operations are held at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and most employees are on non-voluntary leave for the duration of the shutdown. Only a few people responsible for the operation of spacecraft currently in flight have been allowed to continue working. Some of them operate the Hubble – but the space telescope, which has been in existence for almost 30 years, will need more personnel to get the repair done right.

NASA has set up a team to study the problem. and then know how much and how long it will take for the repair. But since the press office of the space agency, which is also the government, is on leave because of the closure, it is also difficult to obtain information on the case. It should be noted that during the shutdown period, employees are not allowed to return to work, even if they wish.

And the Hubble Science Institute, which is in another location and manages the scientific operations of the telescope, stays open and works well, using the money provided by NASA before the onset of paralysis – the situation is not so tragic at the moment. . But if the strike lasts much longer, this money will end and it will no longer be possible to continue to administer the science provided by Hubble, even if it is defective.

The closure began on December 22nd. 75% of the government and there is still no closure forecast. And when the closure started, scientists were already worried that Hubble would not have problems until the return of normal activity, because last October, the space telescope had stopped working for three weeks due to A gyroscope broke down [19659002] After all, the Hubble was launched into space in 1990 after being upgraded five times by astronauts. The last face-to-face interview was conducted in 2009, at the time of installation of the defective camera. As a result, some of its instruments are defective and require repairs, which is not surprising given the long service life. Hubble will be replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope, which was to be launched last year, but a series of problems have led NASA to defer its launch by 2021. It is three times larger than Hubble.

: Nature