NASA’s Hubble Pauses Science Due to Gyro Issue

NASA is working to resume science operations of the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope after it entered safe mode April 23 due to an ongoing gyroscope (gyro) issue. Hubble’s instruments are stable, and the telescope is in good health.

The telescope automatically entered safe mode when one of its three gyroscopes gave faulty readings. The gyros measure the telescope’s turn rates and are part of the system that determines which direction the telescope is pointed. While in safe mode, science operations are suspended, and the telescope waits for new directions from the ground.

This particular gyro caused Hubble to enter safe mode in November after returning similar faulty readings. The team is currently working to identify potential solutions. If necessary, the spacecraft can be re-configured to operate with only one gyro, with the other remaining gyro placed in reserve . The spacecraft had six new gyros installed during the fifth and final space shuttle servicing mission in 2009. To date, three of those gyros remain operational, including the gyro currently experiencing fluctuations. Hubble uses three gyros to maximize efficiency, but could continue to make science observations with only one gyro if required.

NASA anticipates Hubble will continue making groundbreaking discoveries, working with other observatories, such as the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope, throughout this decade and possibly into the next.

Launched in 1990, Hubble has been observing the universe for more than three decades and recently celebrated its 34th anniversary. Read more about some of Hubble’s greatest scientific discoveries and visit nasa.gov/hubble for updates.

Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Juno

NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter in 2016, the first explorer to peer below the planet’s dense clouds to…

Science News

James Webb Space Telescope

Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

NASA’s Commercial Partners Deliver Cargo, Crew for Station Science

NASA partners with commercial companies to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation of cargo and crew members to and from the International Space Station. A platform for long-duration research in microgravity, the station has operated continuously for more than 23 years, its crew members conducting a broad range of technology demonstrations and thousands of experiments in many scientific fields.

Human Transportation

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program provides systems capable of carrying astronauts to low Earth orbit and the space station through industry partners who design, build, test, and operate these systems. Crew members providing hands-on operation of scientific research is one of the unique advantages of the orbiting laboratory. Human operators monitor events on Earth in real time, swap out experiment samples, observe results firsthand, assess when conditions are favorable for data collection, and troubleshoot and otherwise manage and maintain scientific activities. Crew members also pack experiment samples to return to the ground for detailed analysis.

NASA commercial partner Boeing is launching NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on a Crew Flight Test of its Starliner spacecraft in May 2024. The spacecraft launches to the space station on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. This mission paves the way for NASA to certify the Starliner spacecraft for long-duration rotation missions to the space station.

SpaceX, another commercial partner, conducted an uncrewed Demo-1 flight in March 2019, and in May 2020, the Demo-2 flight carried NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the space station. The first operational mission, Crew-1, launched in November 2020. Since then, SpaceX has regularly sent crews to the orbiting laboratory for scientific missions. The Dragon spacecraft launches on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s commercial crew flights have significantly increased the amount of crew time available for research and expanded the potential for commercial use of the orbiting laboratory. More crew members mean more time for scientific research and technology demonstrations, and ultimately, more scientific results. To date, results generated by space station research range from improvements in the development of pharmaceuticals to better disaster response, improved materials manufacturing, advances in robotics, bioprinting human tissue, and more.

By enabling regular rotation of crew members, commercial crew flights also contribute to research on how long-duration missions affect human health, helping to prepare for exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.

Cargo Resupply

Through NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program, partners SpaceX and Northrop Grumman fly cargo to the space station on rockets and spacecraft the companies developed.

Northrop Grumman transports scientific investigations and cargo on its Cygnus spacecraft. The company’s first resupply mission launched in 2013 and it had reached 20 missions by January 2024. When a Cygnus departs from the space station, it disposes of several thousand pounds of waste that burn up during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

Departing Cygnus spacecraft also provide safe platforms to perform research that could create hazards if conducted on the space station, such as the Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments (Saffire). This eight-year series of investigations studied flame growth and material flammability in space. The experiments were ignited in the cargo vehicles after their departure from the station and before re-entry to Earth, avoiding potential risk to the space station and its crew.

SpaceX launched its first Dragon cargo mission in October 2012 and by March 2024, had sent 30 commercial resupply services missions to the space station. Dragon is a reusable spacecraft that also returns samples from scientific investigations conducted on the space station. Beginning in 2021, these return flights started splashing down near Kennedy rather than in the Pacific Ocean. This capability allows scientists quick access to samples to make additional observations and analyses before the effects of gravity fully kick back in. Many researchers also conduct more in-depth analysis later in their home labs.

NASA also is working with Sierra Space to develop the Dream Chaser spacecraft to transport cargo to and from the space station. The reusable, winged spacecraft is designed to use commercial runways and its cargo is subject to reduced gravitational forces on the return flight. Sierra Space conducted an autonomous atmospheric test flight in 2017.

These commercial partnerships build a strong American commercial space industry, as NASA focuses on developing the next generation of rockets and spacecraft for deep space missions and to put the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.

Melissa Gaskill
International Space Station Research Communications Team
NASA’s Johnson Space Center

Search this database of scientific experiments to learn more about those mentioned above.

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics

Latest News from Space Station Research

Commercial Crew Program

Commercial Resupply

Low Earth Orbit Economy

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Ana Guzman

NASA’s ORCA, AirHARP Projects Paved Way for PACE to Reach Space

It took the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission just 13 minutes to reach low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in February 2024. It took a network of scientists at NASA and research institutions around the world more than 20 years to carefully craft and test the novel instruments that allow PACE to study the ocean and atmosphere with unprecedented clarity.

In the early 2000s, a team of scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, prototyped the Ocean Radiometer for Carbon Assessment (ORCA) instrument, which ultimately became PACE’s primary research tool: the Ocean Color instrument (OCI). Then, in the 2010s, a team from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), worked with NASA to prototype the Hyper Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP), a shoebox-sized instrument that will collect groundbreaking measurements of atmospheric aerosols.

Neither PACE’s OCI nor HARP2 — a nearly exact copy of the HARP prototype — would exist were it not for NASA’s early investments in novel technologies for Earth observation through competitive grants distributed by the agency’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO). Over the last 25 years, ESTO has managed the development of more than 1,100 new technologies for gathering science measurements.

“All of this investment in the tech development early on basically made it much, much easier for us to build the observatory into what it is today,” said Jeremy Werdell, an oceanographer at NASA Goddard and project scientist for PACE.

Charles “Chuck” McClain, who led the ORCA research team until his retirement in 2013, said NASA’s commitment to technology development is a cornerstone of PACE’s success. “Without ESTO, it wouldn’t have happened. It was a long and winding road, getting to where we are today.”

It was ORCA that first demonstrated a telescope rotating at a speed of six revolutions per second could synchronize perfectly with an array of charge-coupled devices — microchips that transform telescopic projections into digital images. This innovation made it possible for OCI to observe hyperspectral shades of ocean color previously unobtainable using space-based sensors.

But what made ORCA especially appealing to PACE was its pedigree of thorough testing. “One really important consideration was technology readiness,” said Gerhard Meister, who took over ORCA after McClain retired and serves as OCI instrument scientist. Compared to other ocean radiometer designs that were considered for PACE, “we had this instrument that was ready, and we had shown that it would work.”

Technology readiness also made HARP an appealing solution to PACE’s polarimeter challenge. Mission engineers needed an instrument powerful enough to ensure PACE’s ocean color measurements weren’t jeopardized by atmospheric interference, but compact enough to fly on the PACE observatory platform.

By the time Vanderlei Martins, an atmospheric scientist at UMBC, first spoke to Werdell about incorporating a version of HARP into PACE in 2016, he had proven the technology with AirHARP, an airplane-mounted version of HARP, and was using an ESTO award to prepare HARP CubeSat for space.

HARP2 relies on the same optical system developed through AirHARP and HARP CubeSat. A wide-angle lens observes Earth’s surface from up to 60 different viewing angles with a spatial resolution of 1.62 miles (2.6kilometers) per pixel, all without any moving parts. This gives researchers a global view of aerosols from a tiny instrument that consumes very little energy.

Were it not for NASA’s early support of AirHARP and HARP CubeSat, said Martins, “I don’t think we would have HARP2 today.” He added: “We achieved every single goal, every single element, and that was because ESTO stayed with us.”

That support continues making a difference to researchers like Jessie Turner, an oceanographer at the University of Connecticut who will use PACE to study algal blooms and water clarity in the Chesapeake Bay.

“For my application that I’m building for early adopters of PACE data, I actually think that polarimeters are going to be really useful because that’s something we haven’t fully done before for the ocean,” Turner said. “Polarimetric data can actually help us see what kind of particles are in the water.”

Without the early development and test-drives of the instruments from McClain’s and Martins’ teams, PACE as we know it wouldn’t exist.

“It all kind of fell in place in a timely manner that allowed us to mature the instruments, along with the science, just in time for PACE,” said McClain.

To explore current opportunities to collaborate with NASA on new technologies for studying Earth, visit ESTO’s open solicitations page here.

By Gage Taylor
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Explore More

4 min read

NASA’s PACE Data on Ocean, Atmosphere, Climate Now Available

Article


2 weeks ago

5 min read

New NASA Satellite To Unravel Mysteries About Clouds, Aerosols

Article


5 months ago

5 min read

ORCA Prototype Ready for the Open Ocean

Article


9 years ago

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Rob Garner

Hubble Spots a Magnificent Barred Galaxy

The magnificent central bar of NGC 2217 (also known as AM 0619-271) shines bright in the constellation of Canis Major (The Greater Dog), in this image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Roughly 65 million light-years from Earth, this barred spiral galaxy is a similar size to our Milky Way at 100,000 light-years across. Many stars are concentrated in its central region forming the luminous bar, surrounded by a set of tightly wound spiral arms.

The central bar in these types of galaxies plays an important role in their evolution, helping to funnel gas from the disk into the middle of the galaxy. The transported gas and dust are then either formed into new stars or fed to the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center. Weighing from a few hundred to over a billion times the mass of our Sun, supermassive black holes are present in almost all large galaxies.

This image was colorized with data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS).

Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Galaxies Stories

Stars Stories

Universe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

NASA Finds New Homes for Artemis Generation of ‘Moon Trees’ Across US

After careful review of hundreds of applications, NASA has selected organizations from across the country to receive ‘Moon Tree’ seedlings that flew around the Moon on the agency’s Artemis I mission in 2022, to plant in their communities. Notifications to selected institutions will be made in phases, with the first beginning this spring, followed by notifications in fall 2024, spring 2025, and fall 2025.

NASA chose institutions based on criteria that evaluated their suitability to care for the various tree species and their ability to maximize educational opportunities around the life and growth of the tree in their communities.

“A new era of Moon trees will one day stand tall in communities across America,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “NASA is bringing the spirit of exploration back down to Earth because space belongs to everyone. The Artemis Generation will carry forth these seedlings that will be fertile ground for creativity, inspiration, and discovery for years to come.”

To commemorate the Artemis I Moon Trees, Artemis II NASA astronaut Christina Koch visited her home state of North Carolina and participated in a tree dedication ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion on April 24. She will be honored by her alma mater White Oak High School, one of many Moon Tree recipients, on Thursday. Since returning to Earth, the tree seeds have been germinating under the care of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Forest Service, as NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement’s Next Generation STEM project and the agency’s Office of Strategic Infrastructure’s Logistics Management division worked to identify their new homes.

“Together, NASA and the Forest Service will deliver a piece of science history to communities across our nation,” said Mike Kincaid, associate administrator, NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement. “Through this partnership, future explorers, scientists, and environmentalists will have the opportunity to nurture and be inspired by these Artemis artifacts in the community where they live, work, and learn.”

The Artemis I Moon Trees, rooted in the legacy of the original Moon Trees flown by NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa during Apollo 14, journeyed 270,000 miles from Earth aboard the Orion spacecraft.  A diverse array of tree species, including sycamores, sweetgums, Douglas firs, loblolly pines, and giant sequoias, were flown around the surface of the Moon. The first batch of seedlings will ship to almost 50 institutions across 48 contiguous U.S. states.

“What an incredible journey these future Moon Trees have already been on, and we’re excited for them to begin the final journey to permanent homes on campuses and institutions across the country,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. “We hope these trees will stand for centuries to come for the public’s enjoyment, inspiring future generations of scientists and land stewards.” 

Moon Tree recipients will be invited to share their efforts to engage with the public and K-12 learners at quarterly virtual gatherings beginning in summer 2024. Information on educational resources and activities available to educators to share the story and science of Moon Trees with their students can be found online.

Next Gen STEM is a project within NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, which develops unique resources and experiences to spark student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math, and build a skilled and diverse next generation workforce.

For the latest NASA STEM events, activities, and news, visit:

https://stem.nasa.gov/

-end-

Gerelle Dodson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4637
gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Lauren E. Low