NASA may have corrected the Hubble telescope in the same way as your router

There is a reason why the first step of troubleshooting technology is usually ridiculously simple: turn on and off things often works. So do not be surprised that when one of the Hubble Space Telescope gyroscopes indicate that action is neededNASA decided to try to submit the defective backup gyro to a "restart in progress".

OK, it is a little more complicated than turning it on and off again. The gryoscope had been off for over 7.5 years and since it was lit, it was displaying incorrect rotation rates. NASA was hoping that turning off the gryo for a second, then restarting it before the wheel stopped spinning, could clear the blame, but it did not work. Instead, NASA forced the gyroscope to operate normally by switching it to "high mode" and "low mode" while rotating the telescope in opposite directions.

This is how NASA described the process, in technical terms:

In an attempt to correct the erroneous high rates generated by the emergency gyroscope, the Hubble Operations team restarted the gyro on October 16th. This procedure disabled the gyroscope for one second and then restarted before the wheel spins. The goal was to remove defects that may occur during the start of October 6, after the gyro was shut down for more than 7.5 years. However, the data obtained show no improvement in the performance of the gyroscope.

On October 18th, the Hubble Operations team ordered a series of maneuvers or turns in opposite directions to remove any blockage that could decenter the float and produce extremely high speeds. During each maneuver, the gyroscope was toggled from high mode to low mode to eliminate any blockage that may have accumulated around the float.

That's right, it's a bit more complicated than my oversimplification – but it's pretty funny to imagine that the steps to repair the Hubble Space Telescope are not so different from the ones you could take to troubleshoot your router . Turn on and off again. Make things happen. Play with the settings. If you are lucky, these seemingly insignificant actions will reset everything that is wrong and put things back together. After all, it works for NASA.

Hubble's operations team stated that the problem appeared to have been resolved, but that it would perform additional tests to ensure that the telescope became operational again.

NASA is 60 years old: the space agency has pushed humanity further than anyone and plans to go further.

Take it to the extreme: mix crazy situations – eruptive volcanic eruptions, nuclear collapses, 30-foot waves – with everyday technologies. This is what happens.