The Hubble Space Telescope resumed science observations on Friday after ground teams spent most of the last three weeks assessing the performance of a finicky gyroscope, NASA said.
Moving parts sometimes break The gyros have long been one of the parts of Hubble that require the most upkeep. A wheel inside each gyro spins at a constant rate of 19,200 revolutions per minute, and the wheel is, in turn, sealed inside a cylinder suspended in a thick fluid, according to NASA. Electronics within each gyro detect very small movements of the axis of the wheel, which supply Hubble's central computer with information about the spacecraft's turn rate. Hair-thin wires route signals from the gyroscopes, and these wires can degrade over time.
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