The Hubble Space Telescope, which has been operating in space since 1990, has been out of service for almost two weeks. The observatory automatically went into ‘safety mode’ due to a technical problem, the American space agency NASA reports on its website.
The reason is the failure of a so-called gyroscope, which aligns and stabilizes the telescope in space. However, NASA assured that the observatory is in “good condition” and that they are working to resolve the problem and get Hubble working again.
The ‘Hubble’ telescope actually has six gyroscopes for position control in space, three of which were recently in use and now only two are working. According to NASA, ‘Hubble’ could theoretically be reconfigured to work with just one gyroscope.
In safety mode for the first time on November 19
According to NASA, Hubble entered safety mode for the first time on November 19. Two days later, the faulty gyroscope forced the telescope to suspend science operations again. After a successful recovery, “Hubble” returned to “safe mode” on November 23.
Hubble was jointly developed by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Since its launch in April 1990, the telescope has revolutionized astronomy with breathtaking images from space.
Source: Krone
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
