---
title: "NASA Says It’s Trying to Bring the Hubble Back Online"
description: "NASA is apparently working on bringing the Hubble Space Telescope back online, but given its recent setbacks, TK. In an update, NASA said that it's still working to bring the aging telescope back to life after a series of issues with its gyroscopes led it to automatically shut down three times over the course of […]"
date: "2023-12-08"
modified: "2023-12-08"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-bringing-hubble-online"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "gyroscope"
  - "hubble"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Says It’s Trying to Bring the Hubble Back Online

![NASA is working on bringing the Hubble Telescope back online, but the orbital observatory is getting very old.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/nasa-bringing-hubble-online.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty / Futurism\</em\>*

## Major Tom?

NASA is working on bringing the Hubble Space Telescope back online, but given its recent setbacks, the agency's insistence that it's "in good health" may be wishful thinking.

In [an update](<https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-space-telescope-pauses-science-due-to-gyro-issue/>), NASA said that it's still working to bring the aging telescope back to life after a series of issues that led it to automatically enter safe mode (read: [shut down](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/hubble-broken-down>)) three times over the course of a few weeks, with the final one lasting until now.

Starting on November 19, the agency began having issues problems with the gyroscopes or "gyros" — not to be confused with the delicious Greek meat — which helps orient the telescope in whatever direction it needs to point. Between that date and November 29, the gyro issues led to automatic power-downs thrice. That last safe mode, it seems, has remained in effect until now.

## Aging Instruments

Installed back in 2009 during the fifth and final [Space Shuttle servicing mission](<https://hubblesite.org/mission-and-telescope/servicing-missions>) that saw NASA astronauts replacing and fixing Hubble instruments IRL, the remaining three of the six gyros aboard the telescope have clearly seen better days. Indeed, with its update to its previous statement about the science operations shutoff, the agency seems to be admitting as much.

"Based on the performance observed during the tests, the team has decided to operate the gyros in a higher-precision mode during science observations," the statement reads. "Hubble’s instruments and the observatory itself remain stable and in good health."

These latest Hubble setbacks have [resurrected talks](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/hubble-broken-down>) of a private servicing mission for the 33-year-old telescope that was supposed to be decommissioned nearly two decades ago.

At the end of 2022, [NASA and SpaceX announced](<https://www.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasa-spacex-to-study-hubble-telescope-reboost-possibility/>) that they were jointly looking into whether it would be feasible to send up a private mission "at no cost to the government" to fix various issues on the telescope. That study has apparently been completed, but nobody knows what the findings were just yet.

In the meantime, NASA will hopefully be able to bring Hubble back online itself because, let's face it, we're not ready to say goodbye.

**More on NASA:** *[Space Station Turns 25, Just in Time to Die](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-station-anniversary-death>)*

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)