HST Problems
Sue J. Worden (worden@uts.cc.utexas.edu)
Thu, 25 Feb 1999 10:42:40 -0600 (CST)
> Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 10:32:58 -0500
> Sender: Science In The News List Service
> [ ... ]
> EMERGENCY REPAIRS NEEDED ON HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
> from The Associated Press
> WASHINGTON - With mechanical problems threatening to shut down the
> astronomical observations of the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA may launch a
> repair mission six months earlier than planned to the $1.7 billion
> spacecraft, they told Congress on Wednesday.
> The problem is ailing gyroscopes, said Daniel Goldin, the administrator of
> the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Gyroscopes are used for
> the stability and fine pointing the Hubble needs to gather light from stars
> billions of light years away.
> The loss of all gyroscopes would mean the space telescope could not make
> astronomical observations, but it would not threaten the spacecraft,
> officials said. Instead, the failure of the gyros would cause the craft to
> go into an automatic "safe mode" until the repairs are made.
> http://www.nando.net/healthscience/story/0,1080,21868-35704-260370-0,00.html
> [ ... ]