The gyros are absolutely critical in order to maintain your pointing preference, Hubble project manager Preston Burch told Space.com.
The hangup cost the spacewalkers a couple of hours, and came a day after a stubborn bolt threatened to scuttle efforts to replace the Hubble s grand piano-sized camera. Massimino, working from inside the Hubble, and Good quickly removed all six of the telescope s decade-old gyroscopes. The first set of two replacements went in easily enough, but the next two did not fit. Another set did, drawing cheers from mission control.
But the final set of gyroscopes did not go in, leaving the astronauts to resort to a box of spare, refurbished units that had been taken from Hubble in 1999. No matter: NASA officials say the refurbished ones are almost as good as brand new ones. Still, there was a brief scare when Massimino s communication system went on the fritz and no one could hear him for for more than a minute.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station celebrated the New Year partly by eating the first-ever vegetables grown in space besides leafy greens radishes.
Astronauts eat first radishes grown in space as 2020 ends
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Astronaut Kate Rubins harvests radishes Wednesday aboard the International Space Station. Photo courtesy of NASA
Radishes are shown during harvest on November 27 aboard the International Space Station. Photo courtesy of NASA
Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi took samples of radish leaves grown aboard the International Space Station on November 20. Photo courtesy of NASA | License Photo
ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 1 (UPI) Astronauts aboard the International Space Station celebrated the New Year in part by eating radishes, the first vegetables grown in space besides leafy greens.
The space radishes were grown from seeds over the past 27 days in the microgravity of orbit as part of NASA s program to develop space agriculture.
Watch: International Space Station astronauts mark New Year s with ball drop
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The Expedition 64 crew on the International Space Station offer those on Earth a Happy New Year. Photo courtesy of NASA
Jan. 1 (UPI) Five of the seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station celebrated the New Year with a traditional ball drop, but because of weightlessness, it headed upward rather than down.
The astronauts quickly followed the zero-gravity twist, rising toward the top of their cabin as they wished those on Earth good wishes for a happy 2021 as they traveled 15,500 mph some 250 miles above the Earth.
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The five, from Expedition 64 NASA astronauts Kate Rubins, Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi took turns with their greeting to those below.
NASA studies fruit flies to understand astronaut sleep cycles
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NASA astronaut and microbiologist Kate Rubins holds fruit fly genetic material aboard the International Space Station on December 21 after analyzing the substance using new techniques. Photo courtesy of NASA
Fruit flies are shown an a laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center in California, where they are raised for experiments aboard the International Space Station. Photo courtesy of NASA
Fruit flies are packed into a small plastic NASA cartridge with food for delivery to the International Space Station. Photo courtesy of NASA
ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 30 (UPI) Tiny fruit flies are helping NASA study how brain activity and sleep patterns change when organisms live in the microgravity of space.