When you’ve been in operation since 1990, you need to hibernate things for seven years every once and awhile.
“Following the October 18 maneuvers, the team noticed a significant reduction in the high rates, allowing rates to be measured in low mode for brief periods of time,” NASA reports. “On October 19, the operations team commanded Hubble to perform additional maneuvers and gyro mode switches, which appear to have cleared the issue. Gyro rates now look normal in both high and low mode.”
Now, the space agency plans to test the gyro under conditions like those during routine science activities. Once these tests are done, the telescope should resume normal science observations.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been in operation since its launch in 1990.