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The Hubble Space Telescope tracked the deployment of part of its solar panels and antennas in April 1990. The telescope was set aside this month due to gyro failures. (NASA / AP)
Amy B Wang
Journalist specializing in reports on national reports and the latest news
October 24 at 15:59
The most favorable month has not been reached by the Hubble Space Telescope. 19659005] During the first week of October, one of the three gyroscopes of the spacecraft failed. The giant telescope needs devices allowing it to measure rotational speeds and focus on objects observed and photographed in space.
In a statement, NASA badured the public that the blackout was expected, claiming that the gyroscope "had been exposed to life behavior for about a year" and, in any case, "two other gyroscopes of the same type had already failed ".
To replace him, NASA engineers have powered a standby gyroscope since early 2011. They were comforted at first. The gyroscope started spinning despite it was not used for 7 and a half years. However, he returned values that were way too high.
The difference was "similar to a speedometer on your car constantly showing that your speed is 100 miles faster than it actually is," said the NASA. "It indicates when your car is accelerating or slowing down and how much, but the actual speed is imprecise."
The engineers concluded that the problem should be some kind of mechanical obstruction. After making a vow to fix the problem, NASA kept the telescope in "safe mode", thereby limiting its operations in the same way that a computer of this mode functioned in the raw state, [19659009] Keeping the telescope in safe mode also meant "we did not do it". Science, "Patrick Crouse, Hubble's operations project manager, told the Washington Post.
Days pbaded.
[As NASA’s prized telescopes falter, astronomers fear losing their eyes in space]
NASA teams performed tests, examined the flight software, and considered what they could do to remedy the problem with the least possible damage to their aircraft. valuable (and expensive) telescope. (Although the Hubble can operate with fewer gyroscopes, it normally uses three for maximum efficiency.)
On Oct. 16, the Hubble team even attempted a "restart in progress," turning off the gyroscope problematic for a second, then back on. again. Unfortunately, the "did you try to turn it off and turn it on?" Approach – long favored for a long time by tech support personnel on Earth – did not work in space. Crouse said it would be as easy as that.
Instead, what seemed to work was to repeatedly turn the entire Hubble spacecraft to see if it would "dislodge" anything that was blocking the gyroscope in question.
NASA explained the fix. in more technical terms in a blog post Monday:
On October 18, the Hubble Operations team ordered a series of spacecraft maneuvers, or turns, in opposite directions to try to remove any blockage that could have caused the float to stop. -center and produce extremely high rates. During each maneuver, the gyroscope was toggled from high mode to low mode to eliminate any blockage that may have accumulated around the float.
Following the maneuvers of October 18, the team found a significant reduction in high rates, allowing rates to be measured in low mode for short periods. On Oct. 19, the operations team commissioned Hubble to perform additional maneuvers and gyro mode switches, which seems to have solved the problem. The gyro rates now look normal in high and low mode.
Hubble then performed additional maneuvers to ensure that the gyroscope remained stable within operational limits as the probe moved. The team saw no problem and continued to watch the gyroscope throughout the weekend to ensure stability.
Repeated maneuvers seemed to be working, as the gyroscope's rate of return to normal returned to normal, to the great relief of Hubble's engineers.
"We always believed, or very early, that the gyroscope seemed to be useful and we just had to make sure it was in a useful condition," he said.
Crouse interrupted. when asked to explain what had happened in simple terms,
"At a high level, if people want to talk about pitching, I guess they're the one." can, "he said. "But we were trying to do very specific activities that we thought would solve the problem. It certainly was not as easy as turning it off and on again.
This does not prevent various media from reporting that NASA had repaired its telescope "as you repair your router".
"NASA repairs the Hubble gyroscope by turning it off and on again, Engadget said Wednesday.
" What has the Hubble Space Telescope The NASA? Someone turned on and off a switch, "followed USA Today.
The rotation speeds produced by the emergency gyroscope have been reduced and are now in a normal range. Additional tests must be performed to ensure that Hubble can return to scientific operations with this gyroscope. For more information: https://t.co/lT2Wpycqw2[19459018eakfasts-Hubble(@NASAHubble) October 22, 2018
Crouse said that these headlines were "an oversimplification", although He can understand the confusion to the extreme. technical issues.
"It's hard to keep everyone informed about the process," he said. "I can understand that some people may have chosen the easy way. But to reflect where we are [with Hubble] we are very optimistic. We are not yet at the end of our sentences, but we are very optimistic that we can start doing science again. "
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in orbit in 1990 and, since its first shot, a disappointing grain., Black and white image of some stars, thanks to a fault in a main mirror – it is subsequently managed to produce truly dazzling images of space.The Time magazine lists the 50 "best" photos taken by Hubble, although they are all extraordinary in their own way, depending on the interest that the (19659029) NASA has developed a new telescope, the $ 8-billion James Webb Space Telescope, which will go back in time, almost to the beginning of the universe.The Webb will be able to capture seven times more light than the Hubble and observe the universe in infrared wavelengths, which Hubble can not, announced the Washington Post's Joel Achenbach in February. Webb's elescope should replace the Hubble, which "still works fabulously, but it's long in the tooth," wrote Achenbach.
More:
As NASA's valuable telescopes falter, astronomers are afraid of losing their eyes space
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NASA Astronaut Filming Out in Space – and Stunning View of Earth
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