Are the two other gyros broken?
Hubble was down to three working gyros, but one broke. This new single gyro mode, lets them take the other offline so that they can hold it in reserve for when this one breaks
NASA releases Hubble image taken in new pointing mode
31–40 of 174 posts
Re: NASA releases Hubble image taken in new pointing mode
#32Naive question: Today, smartphones use microscopic gyroscopes based on MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) technology. Would these also work on Hubble? I suspect they'd work fine in space, perhaps while also being more durable (the failing Hubble gyroscopes were only installed in 2009). Though I guess their precision is not good enough for a telescope.
Re: NASA releases Hubble image taken in new pointing mode
#33Hubble is such a productive piece of an equipment. What a shame there has been only one pointing outwards all these years.
>What a shame there has been only one pointing outwards all these years. Let's not forget that initially it was considered a massive failure. There simply was no way for NASA to build another in the 90s. What's truly remarkable is how the ROI went from unknown, to negative, and then was a massive long-term success.
It initially was a massive failure? They made a preventable mistake that cost ~$1B.
Re: NASA releases Hubble image taken in new pointing mode
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
>What a shame there has been only one pointing outwards all these years. Let's not forget that initially it was considered a massive failure. There simply was no way for NASA to build another in the 90s. What's truly remarkable is how the ROI went from unknown, to negative, and then was a massive long-term success.
> Let's not forget that initially it was considered a massive failure Why was that? Were fewer discoveries made than hoped?
Spherical aberration in its primary mirror (and other issues) discovered shortly after launch.
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-missions/what-was-w...
Re: NASA releases Hubble image taken in new pointing mode
#35Naive question: Today, smartphones use microscopic gyroscopes based on MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) technology. Would these also work on Hubble? I suspect they'd work fine in space, perhaps while also being more durable (the failing Hubble gyroscopes were only installed in 2009). Though I guess their precision is not good enough for a telescope.
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Re: NASA releases Hubble image taken in new pointing mode
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm sure at NASA as at all government agencies there are teams who work very efficiently and do more with less, and other teams whose mission does not have that characteristic and constraint.
The majority of inefficiency seems to leek into NASA via our Congress.
I agree, NASA would be much further along without that bunch of turnips.
Re: NASA releases Hubble image taken in new pointing mode
#37I’d love to see some actual data on this - what’s the impact on resolution, maximum exposure time, etc.?
“Once Hubble is on target, the steadiness of the telescope in one-gyro mode is almost comparable to that of a full three-gyro complement… Although one-gyro mode is an excellent way to keep Hubble science operations going, it does have limitations, which include a small decrease in efficiency (roughly 12 percent) due to the added time required to slew and lock the telescope onto a science target… If Earth or the moon…
The impact on Jupiter bit seems strange to me. Unless it's something that just pops up out of nowhere, it seems like we'd have been tracking the impactor for some time to be able to have plenty of lead time for Hubble to use its walker to slowly get into position.
Re: NASA releases Hubble image taken in new pointing mode
#38I just think it's sad that they're doing fixes on a 34 year old telescope instead of sending up a new improved model every 10 years.
Re: NASA releases Hubble image taken in new pointing mode
#39Naive question: Today, smartphones use microscopic gyroscopes based on MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) technology. Would these also work on Hubble? I suspect they'd work fine in space, perhaps while also being more durable (the failing Hubble gyroscopes were only installed in 2009). Though I guess their precision is not good enough for a telescope.
You are thinking of the sensor in smartphones, in this case it is a spinning disc that uses gyroscopic torque to rotate the spacecraft.
Re: NASA releases Hubble image taken in new pointing mode
#40Hubble is such a productive piece of an equipment. What a shame there has been only one pointing outwards all these years.
>What a shame there has been only one pointing outwards all these years. Let's not forget that initially it was considered a massive failure. There simply was no way for NASA to build another in the 90s. What's truly remarkable is how the ROI went from unknown, to negative, and then was a massive long-term success.
Let's not forget that NRO donated multiple Hubble level satellites. NASA had no budget to utilize them, so they were not used. Of course there were other logistics involved that made the "gifts" not so practical. However, the thing that gets me is that if the NRO was willing to donate these satellites tells me that they have better than Hubble quality imaging looking inwards and absolutely have multiple of them.