NASA seeks to save the Hubble telescope

According to the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI) of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA), the Hubble telescope's main camera has been down for more than a week. NASA is trying to fix this problem.

Source: khulsey The Hubble telescope is considered a 'revolution' in the world of astronomy with amazing images obtained from the universe. The glass has three separate electronic cameras with a filter and diffuse light used to capture objects far away.

The third camera installed in 2002 is Hubble's most important and modern device. NASA engineers are trying to identify the cause of the failure and find a way to fix it. In the meantime, the other two secondary cameras are still active.

The cause of the problem may be because the transistor is broken or the camera memory is lost. A NASA spokesman, Ed Campion, hopes 'both possibilities can be solved from the ground'.

Hubble weighs 11 tons, 2.4 meters in diameter, was launched from April 24, 1990 and flew on Earth orbit at an altitude of 600 km. This telescope needs to be replaced with a new fuel cell and gyroscope if you want to operate next year.

One of Hubble's most famous photographs: The Creator Column, where the stars are forming in the Eagle Nebula

In 2005, the Hubble telescope was cut off from NASA's 2006 financial budget, while it needed new gyroscopes to maintain stability in orbit, as well as need generators.

NASA plans to launch a flight in late 2007 to carry out maintenance and extension of Hubble's operation for another 5 years.

Hubble's future has not been decided yet. If not replacing the gyros to fix it in orbit, Hubble will fall back to Earth after 2010.

Hubble's 'successor' telescope, James Webb, is intended to be launched in 2013 and will be on a higher trajectory than today's Hubble. However, the James Webb telescope can only be taken with infrared, so it is not possible to replace Hubble in observing the visible spectral parts.

Hoang Minh