Telescope Automatically Entered Safe Mode When One Of Its Three Gyroscopes Gave Faulty Telemetry Readings

Not all is quite right with the Hubble Space Telescope...

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope entered safe mode May 24 due to an ongoing gyroscope (gyro) issue, suspending science operations. Hubble’s instruments are stable, and the telescope is in good health.

The telescope automatically entered safe mode when one of its three gyroscopes gave faulty telemetry readings. Hubble’s gyros measure the telescope’s slew rates and are part of the system that determines and controls precisely the direction the telescope is pointed. NASA will provide more information early the first week of June.

NASA anticipates Hubble will continue making discoveries throughout this decade and possibly into the next, working with other observatories, such as the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope for the benefit of humanity.

Launched in 1990, Hubble has been observing the universe for more than three decades and recently celebrated its 34th anniversary. 

Since then, Hubble has offered stunning images that capture the awe-inspiring beauty of the universe, but NASA is quick to emphasize that Hubble is far more than pretty pictures. Its suite of scientific instruments make it an orbiting observatory that gathers wavelengths of light from ultraviolet, through visible, and into the near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Hubble’s sensitivity to such a broad range of wavelengths makes it one of the most valuable and productive observatories in the history of astronomy.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/goddard