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Not exactly the same thing. The Hubble gyroscopes are largeish flywheels that are on gimbaling platforms. They spin and maintain a constant orientation just lik
by racnid 8y ago
Not exactly the same thing. The Hubble gyroscopes are largeish flywheels that are on gimbaling platforms. They spin and maintain a constant orientation just like your toy gyroscope. By changing the platform's angle to the satellite with motors the whole satellite can be orientated since it's floating in space. The gyroscopes they're talking about here are used for sensing. There's several types but the simplest conceptually work in the opposite manner. The platform moves and the gyro stays fixed, a resolving device is used to sense the angle. Ring laser gyros (what they're describing here) and other mems gyros work differently still. But basically the idea is that something doesn't move when everything else does.
- wcoenen 8y agoI believe you are thinking about reaction wheels. Hubble has 4 of those but it also has 6 gyroscope sensors, which is what was in the news recently. I just don't know how the specs and intended use cases of those Hubble gyros compare to these optical gyros, hence my question.
- racnid 8y agoHonestly I was thinking about the reaction wheels when I wrote my comment because I only skimmed the Hubble articles and didn't realize they were talking about the attitude sensing gyroscopes having to be reset.
- xupybd 8y agoCould these be used in spacecraft? With no moving parts would they be more reliable?