Hubble Resumes Science With 1 Gyroscope to Extend Mission Into Mid-2030s

1 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · May 22

14 June 2024 marked Hubble’s return to science operations after NASA shifted the 36-year-old telescope from three active gyros to one, keeping its two other working units in reserve.
24 May safe mode was triggered by repeated bad readings from a failing gyro, which NASA linked to corrosion in the unit’s sensing fluid and then retired rather than keep cycling in and out of service.
1-gyro mode leaves data quality unchanged, NASA said, but slows target slews, cuts scheduling efficiency by about 12%, and reduces overall scientific productivity by roughly 20% to 25%.
Less than 1% of Hubble’s historical targets are affected by the new pointing limits, though the telescope can no longer track objects closer than Mars, including Mercury, Venus, the Moon and Earth-bound targets.
Mid-2030s is still NASA’s working end-of-mission horizon as Hubble’s orbit decays; the agency also said in June 2024 it was not pursuing a SpaceX private servicing mission for now.