Since 2009, the Hubble Space Telescope has been in a state of quasi-operational limbo due to a computer glitch.

The trouble began back in 2009, when one of the three gyroscopes used to orient the telescope failed. A back-up gyroscope was brought online, but it soon started exhibiting the same problem.

In order to keep the telescope operational, mission engineers were forced to use software to emulate the functionality of the two gyroscopes. However, this workaround was only temporary, and in May of this year, the last of the software-based gyroscopes failed.

With no way to orient the telescope, it …