Hubble Survives on One Gyro, Extending Its Watch into the 2030s

NASA has reconfigured the Hubble Space Telescope to operate on a single healthy gyroscope, preserving two spare units to extend its life into the mid‑2030s after gyro faults and a 2024 safe mode. The one‑gyro mode, developed in the 2000s, slows slews and restricts targets (notably near Mars and Earth‑bound observations), reducing scheduling efficiency by about 12% and overall scientific productivity by roughly 20–25%. The root cause is corrosion of gyro fluid; there are no funded plans to replace gyros or pursue servicing. Hubble now sits alongside JWST and the Roman Space Telescope in a complementary lineup, continuing science until it gradually winds down.