For all the fellow space nerds out there, a new project, aided by Stevens’ faculty, is aiming to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope. While the Stevens project announcement coincides with national news of the Artemis II launch, this one hits close to home and will surely excite the Stevens community.
For those looking to catch up, the Hubble Space Telescope is an observatory launched into outer space in 1990 by NASA. Hovering about 370 miles above Earth, this school-bus-sized spacecraft has captured astonishing images of black holes, deep-space objects, and neighboring galaxies, revolutionizing our understanding of the universe.
Roshanak Nilchiani, an associate professor of Systems Engineering, and Ph.D. candidate Rashika Sugganahalli Natesh Babu have teamed up with David Barnhart, professor of astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California (USC), to extend the longevity of a pivotal tool in this telescope’s journey through space.
A core feature of the Hubble Space Telescope is its ability to maintain precise orientation, which is directly supported by a device called a gyroscope. This sensor properly orients the telescope in 3D space by measuring its angular velocity. This is what allows it to capture high-quality images of space.
The telescope was equipped with six of these devices, of which only a limited number are currently usable. Engineers have theorized various ways to replace these crucial parts, all of which have proven extremely costly and complex.
The team at Stevens and USC has developed a joint solution that will enable nanosatellites to effectively guide the Hubble Space Telescope. The nanosatellites would act as an external support system, assisting with orientation and control around the telescope. Described as a “smart exoskeleton,” this system would permit the Hubble Space Telescope to remain properly oriented throughout space without ever modifying its internal design, shifting previously proposed solutions.
A common aspect of the design process is the product’s intended life cycle. In the case of the Hubble Space Telescope, this was approximately 15 years, as NASA had projected its obsolescence around 2005. With new adaptations like this one, the question now becomes, “How can we refactor current systems to increase longevity?”
Projects like this spark excitement in other areas of engineering, paving the way for future ideation in the revitalization of aging systems.
