NASA
One of astronomers’ most important windows on the universe, the Hubble Space Telescope, has been taken offline after two of its gyroscopes failed.
“Very stressful weekend,” Hubble’s deputy mission scientist, Jane Osten, wrote on Twitter. “Right now HST is in safe mode while we figure out what to do.”
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 …