快猫短视频

One of astronomers鈥� most important windows on the universe, the Hubble Space Telescope, has been taken offline after聽two聽of its gyroscopes failed.

鈥淰ery stressful weekend,鈥� Hubble鈥檚 deputy mission scientist, Rachel Osten, . 鈥淩ight now HST is in safe mode while we figure out what to do.鈥�

Hubble has six gyroscopes, which measure the rate of motion as it moves, ensuring the telescope stays pointing in the right direction. Three are needed for it to work most efficiently, but two had previously failed and two went down over the weekend, leaving only two now working. Hubble can still operate with one or two gyroscopes, but its view of the sky is restricted.

The mission team hope that one of the gryoscopes might yet be brought back online. 鈥淲e knew it was coming. The gyro lasted about six months longer than we thought it would (almost pulled the plug on it back in the spring). We鈥檒l work through the issues and be back,鈥� Osten posted in .

Hubble has been observing the sky since 1990. All six gyroscopes were replaced when it was last serviced in 2009聽by a crew of astronauts flying on the space shuttle.聽Since the space shuttle retired in 2011, it is not currently possible to send astronauts for another repair mission.

In 2016, NASA announced that the telescope would continue operating until June 2021, by which time its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, is due to be working 鈥� although that project has been repeatedly put back.

Kepler, another space telescope that has played an integral role in the hunt for exoplanets, is also reaching the end of its working life. Its replacement,聽Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), launched in April.