Despite a rest, Kepler’s problematic gyroscope is still having problems.
Despite a rest, Kepler’s problematic gyroscope is still having problems.
Three of the wheels are needed for Kepler’s 3.1-foot telescope to have enough sensitivity to detect the minuscule signatures of Earth-sized planets. In an exercise of caution, mission managers switched off Kepler’s reaction wheels for 10 days in January, hoping the break would redistribute lubricant inside the wheel assemblies, reducing friction and allowing the units to cool down.
But friction in wheel no. 4, which has showed friction for much of Kepler’s mission, actually increased in the month following the “wheel rest” period.
The telescope originally had four wheels. One has failed, with a second showing signs of failure. If it goes, the spacecraft will no longer be able to point with enough accuracy to do its primary mission. They might be able to use it to some observations, but its design is such that even these will be of limited value.
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Despite a rest, Kepler’s problematic gyroscope is still having problems.
Three of the wheels are needed for Kepler’s 3.1-foot telescope to have enough sensitivity to detect the minuscule signatures of Earth-sized planets. In an exercise of caution, mission managers switched off Kepler’s reaction wheels for 10 days in January, hoping the break would redistribute lubricant inside the wheel assemblies, reducing friction and allowing the units to cool down.
But friction in wheel no. 4, which has showed friction for much of Kepler’s mission, actually increased in the month following the “wheel rest” period.
The telescope originally had four wheels. One has failed, with a second showing signs of failure. If it goes, the spacecraft will no longer be able to point with enough accuracy to do its primary mission. They might be able to use it to some observations, but its design is such that even these will be of limited value.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
The Hubble telescope also had lots of problems with gyroscope failures. It had six of them, and several of them were replaced during the Servicing Missions. According to the links below, two or four (Wiki says two, other link says two) gyroscopes were replaced in Service Mission 1 (1993), six were replaced in Service Mission 3 (1999), and six were replaced in Service Mission 4 (2009), That’s about one gyroscope every two years. If Kepler’s gyros die at that rate, it’s expected useful life would be 4 years. Did they have reasons to expect that Kepler’s gyros would last significantly longer? Given that Kepler’s orbit (40 million miles away) means that the telescope can’t be serviced, I wonder why they didn’t put a dozen gyroscopes in it. Hubble had six with three spares, but Kepler only had four, with one spare.
Several years ago, I had an interesting conversation with someone on an airplane about the failing gyroscopes. The man next to me said that his son worked on the Hubble project, and he said that his son had some inside information about the failing gyroscopes. His son also had some strong opinions about this subject, but the man didn’t want to discuss the details in public. We were going get in touch afterwards to share the details with me, but, unfortunately, we were never able to contact each other afterwards. I’d love to learn more about the inside details of this subject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope
http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/team_hubble/servicing_missions.php
If only we had a space tug.
Shouldn’t this satellite be one of the easier ones to fix in orbit?
Maybe somthing with a canada arm hooked to would be able to snatch that thing and bring it inside for a tune up, Oh wait, its been dismembered!
Its one of the few satellites that doesn’t spin for stability, it uses those gyroscopic wheels that are failing.
If they can’t get into the satellite to replace the wheels maybe they can strap on a new set and plug them into the computer system somehow, then just turn off the old ones.
Kepler is in an Earth trailing orbit. Rather than being a few hundred miles (354 miles, for Hubble), Kepler is millions of miles from Earth. For more information, see: http://blogs.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/2009/03/keplers-unusual-orbit/