On Wednesday, NASA announced that it had successfully repaired the computer on its Hubble Space Telescope, ending a three-week ordeal that had left the iconic instrument’s future in question.

The trouble began on July 13, when one of three gyroscopes that help Hubble keep its orientation failed. Without gyroscopes, the telescope cannot maintain its pointing direction and becomes susceptible to drift.

To compensate for the failed gyro, mission controllers turned on a backup system that uses the pressure of the sun’s rays to stabilize the telescope. However, this backup system was not designed to be used for an extended period …