NASA's series of Great Observatories satellites are four large, powerful space-based telescopes. Each of the Great Observatories has had a similar size and cost at program outset, and each has made a substantial contribution to astronomy. The four missions each examined a region of the electromagnetic spectrum to which it was particularly suited.
Of these satellites, only the Compton is not operating; one of its gyroscopes failed, and NASA ordere...
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NASA's series of Great Observatories satellites are four large, powerful space-based telescopes. Each of the Great Observatories has had a similar size and cost at program outset, and each has made a substantial contribution to astronomy. The four missions each examined a region of the electromagnetic spectrum to which it was particularly suited.
Of these satellites, only the Compton is not operating; one of its gyroscopes failed, and NASA ordered it to be de-orbited on June 4, 2000. Parts which survived reentry splashed into the Pacific Ocean. Hubble was originally intended to be retrieved and returned to Earth by the Space Shuttle, but the retrieval plan was later abandoned. On October 31, 2006 NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin gave the go-ahead for a final refurbishment mission. The 11-day STS-125 mission by Atlantis, launched on 11 May 2009, installed fresh batteries, replaced all gyroscopes, and installed the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph.
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