In a letter to IEEE Spectrum (2000-08), Tom Hutchison reveals that the first ring laser gyroscope was built at Sperry in early 1961. I am surprised that NASA does not make use of this significant achievement, as I continue to notice headlines like "Hubble Plagued by Old, Broken Gyroscopes" and "NASA plans to de-orbit the massive Compton Gamma-ray Observatory before a second gyroscope fails". I wonder why NASA is still relying on mechanical gyroscopes with a spinning disk. I hope it is not because of the internal politics at NASA...
