NASA is working to resume science operations of the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope after it entered safe mode November 23rd due to an ongoing gyroscope issue. The agency is also saying that the venerable spacecraft is stable and that otherwise the instrument is “in good health.”
Hubble first went into safe mode on November 19th, and after analysis, it was able to resume observations on November 20th. The unstable gyroscope again caused the observatory to suspend science operations the next day, November 21st. Following another successful recovery, Hubble again entered safe mode again on November 23rd.
The Hubble team is continuing their work to restore the spacecraft to normal operation, but if necessary, it can be reconfigured to operate with only one gyroscope. In 2009, all six of Hubble’s gyroscopes were replaced in the last of its servicing mission, carried out by the astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis mission STS-125. While there, the crew also astronauts installed new batteries, new gyroscopes, a new science computer, a refurbished fine guidance sensor, and new insulation on three electronics bays.
Hubble was launched in 1990, and was expected to last fifteen years.
There has been some discussions between SpaceX and NASA regarding a potential sixth repair mission, with the two organizations signing an unfunded Space Act Agreement to study the feasibility of a SpaceX and Polaris Program boosting Hubble into a higher orbit with the Dragon spacecraft, at no cost to the government. According to NASA, “there are no plans for NASA to conduct or fund a servicing mission or compete this opportunity; the study is designed to help the agency understand the commercial possibilities.”
Jared Isaacmen, the leader of the private Polaris program has stated in the past that a servicing flight to the Hubble Space Telescope aboard a Dragon capsule could be a “logical second mission” for the program.
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