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NASA's Hubble Space Telescope enters safe mode after a gyroscope failure


NASA's Hubble Space Telescope entered into "Safe Mode" on Friday after having an on-board gyroscope fail. These gyroscopes are used to help keep the telescope pointed in a specific direction for Long periods of time. Without the functions gyros, the telescope cannot orientate itself to a desired point in space.

The Hubble Space Telescope Twitter tweeted today, "Mission experts are taking steps to return Hubble to great science.".

They have a backup gyro onboard, but it Is being "problematic" and not working, which was confirmed on Twitter by Dr. Rachel Osten, who also confirmed the rumors that started surfacing over the weekend about Hubble.

If they are unable to get the third gyroscope up and running, they will switch Hubble into the single gyro mode and use the second one as a backup. Dr. Rachel Osten also stated on Twitter that they had been expecting this issue to happen, since the gyros have lasted 6 months longer than expected and they nearly pulled the plug on Hubble back in the spring.

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