BBC ON THIS DAY | 24 | 1990: Hubble telescope takes off for space About This Site | Text Only 1990: Hubble telescope takes off for space The American space agency Nasa has successfully launched the space shuttle Discovery from Cape Canaveral in Florida on its historic mission to carry the Hubble space telescope into orbit 380 miles (611.5 km) above the Earth. The telescope will operate from high above the atmosphere, thus avoiding the interference which limits ground-based telescopes. It will be able to see up to the edge of the known universe, taking images of objects and events which happened up to 14 billion years ago. The telescope, the size of a railway carriage, has taken 20 years to build, at a cost of $1.55 billion. It has been dogged by technical hitches, huge budget over-runs and other delays. Seven years late Its launch is seven years overdue, held up by problems in the space shuttle program, including the explosion of the Challenger shuttle in 1986.

The problems continued even once it was safely in space, as the British-made solar panel arrays which provide power for the six separate instruments on board malfunctioned. However, scientists said they were expecting it to be difficult. "Deploying the solar panels is technically more challenging than the launch of a shuttle one more time," said Nasa scientist Stephen Maran. The fault was resolved, and now the telescope faces six months of testing before becoming fully operational. Test image Nasa hopes to release the first test image - of an open star cluster known as NGC 3532 - in about a week. Hubble's main instrument is a finely-polished mirror 94 inches (240 cm) across. There are also two cameras - one which can achieve image resolutions 10 times greater than that of even the largest Earth-based telescope, and a second which can detect an object 50 times fainter than anything visible from Earth. "We are going to have the ability to observe the most distant objects, among the earliest in the universe, and thus probe the secrets of creation," said Nasa's chief scientist, Leonard Fisk. The telescope will be controlled by the specially-created Space Telescope Science Institute at Baltimore.

It's thought Hubble's images will provoke a drastic revision of the shapes, sizes and content of galaxies already identified by ground-based telescopes. It is also likely to find new stars and phenomena, and astronomers suggest the telescope provides the best chance yet of working out the true age of the universe. Launch 1990 | ESA/Hubble | ESA/Hubble Launch 1990 Couldn't save page :( Please try again. Launch 1990 The Hubble Space Telescope was launched by the shuttle Discovery (STS-31) on 24 April 1990 at 12:33:51 UTC. Hubble was released by the Shuttle's robotic arm on 26 April at 19:38 UT. The Space Shuttle Discovery on its way to the skies with Hubble as the payload. Hubble has just been released by the Shuttle's robotic arm and is slowly drifting away. A Brief History of the Hubble Space Telescope A Brief History of the Hubble Space Telescope links by Gabriel Okolski For more than 15 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has been providing scientists and the public with spectacular images of deep space.

One of the most technologically advanced pieces of equipment that humans have put into orbit, Hubble has helped researchers make important discoveries about our universe, ranging from planets and stars to galaxies and cosmology. Thanks to incredible efforts of scientists and engineers, the telescope has also given astronomers insight into the history and fate of our universe. Why a Space Telescope? Although the Hubble Space Telescope has been in orbit since 1990, its origins date long before that. The first serious concepts of a space-based optical observatory began just after World War II. In 1946, Lyman Spitzer, a professor and researcher at Yale University, argued that a space telescope would offer great advantages over ground-based observatories. His paper, entitled Astronomical Advantages of an Extra-Terrestrial Observatory, explained that the Earth's atmosphere blurs and distorts light coming from stars. Even the most precise and advanced telescopes on the ground cannot escape this phenomenon, but a telescope in orbit can. Furthermore, the atmosphere blocks X-rays emitted from high-temperature phenomena in stars and other objects, so they cannot be detected by instruments on the Earth's surface. A space telescope would also allow scientists to accurately measure these emissions as well.

While teaching at Princeton University, Spitzer was asked to head a National Academy of Science Ad Hoc Committee on the Large Space Telescope. During the first meeting in 1966, this group performed comprehensive studies on possible uses for a large space-based telescope. In 1969, the committee published Scientific Uses of the Large Space Telescope, in which the National Academy of Science urged the construction of such an instrument. The report said that a large orbital telescope would make a "dominant contribution to our knowledge of cosmology," by helping scientists study stars, measure distances to galaxies, and investigate the physics behind our universe. How it All Came Together In order to move from concept to reality, the telescope needed support from NASA, the only agency likely to be able to execute the National Academy's recommendation. Wernher von Braun, one of America's leading rocket scientists who came from Germany after World War II, had already looked into the challenges of a space telescope with his team at the Marshall Space Flight Center in the 1960s. Other NASA studies had also originally called for space telescopes, albeit using smaller mirrors that the 120-inch size proposed by the National Academy of Sciences.

In the mid-1960s, NASA and its contractors conducted phased studies into the feasibility of a large space telescope. Although there was initial dissent within NASA over whether the agency should work its way up to a large-scale observatory or take one giant leap to the final product, the decision to develop the Space Shuttle program greatly improved the flexibility NASA would have in designing a space telescope. In 1971, George Low, NASA's Acting Administrator, gave approval to the Large Space Telescope Science Steering Group to conduct feasibility studies. With NASA on board, the next step for what would become the Hubble Space Telescope was to obtain federal funding for the project. Unfortunately for the program, the large space telescope's total cost was roughly estimated at $400 to $500 million, making it a tough sell. Funding for the telescope was originally denied by the House Appropriations Subcommittee in 1975, but this prompted a large-scale lobbying effort by NASA and leading astronomers, led by Spitzer and John Bahcall, another Princeton astronomer who was also an original proponent of the telescope.

The European Space Research Organization (ESRO), later to become the European Space Agency (ESA), was also invited to participate in the project by producing inexpensive solar panels and taking part in observations and research. NASA wanted to take advantage of international cooperation to reduce the overall cost of the program, making it more likely to receive Congressional support. The ESRO accepted the offer in 1975. A mirror reduction from 3 to 2.4 meters helped bring the project down to about $200 million, approximately half the originally expected price tag. The proposal was accepted by Congress, which granted the Large Space Telescope program funding in 1977. The following year, design of the telescope began in earnest, with the award of contracts to the Perkin-Elmer Corporation to construct the mirror and optical assembly and the Lockheed Missiles and Space Company to construct the spacecraft and its support systems. The Europeans were mainly responsible for the solar array that would power Hubble while in orbit. Among the many technological advances used in the telescope's construction was the computer-based laser grinding system used by Perkin-Elmer to craft the observatory's primary mirror. NASA originally planned to launch in 1983, but the program experienced a considerable delay.

The Perkin-Elmer mirror was completed in 1981, but the entire optical assembly was not put together until 1984. Subsequent final assembly of the spacecraft did not take place until 1985. The year 1983 did have its own notable events however, with the founding of the Space Telescope Science Institute at the John Hopkins University in Maryland. A part of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), the institute would be in charge of Hubble's scientific program. That same year would also see the naming of the telescope after Edwin P. Hubble, a notable astronomer who conducted extensive research into stars and galaxies and was the first to prove that the universe is expanding. Launch, Fuzzy Photos, and a Spectacular Repair With all of Hubble's pieces in place by December 1985, NASA planned for an October 1986 launch. But Hubble's future would be in limbo once again, when tragedy struck on January 28, 1986. On a cold morning, the Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off into the Florida sky, in what appeared to be a routine launch.

Only a little more than a minute into the flight, the vehicle exploded into a ball of smoke and flame, calling into question when Hubble would make the trip into orbit. When shuttle flights resumed in 1988, Hubble was finally launched aboard Discovery on April 24, 1990. The telescope's original equipment package included the Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WF/PC), Goddard High Resolution Spectograph (GHRS), Faint Object Camera (FOC), Faint Object Spectograph (FOS), and High Speed Photometer (HSP). After a few weeks of operation, scientists noticed that images being sent back from Hubble were slightly blurred. While this distortion still allowed scientists to study the cosmos and make significant discoveries, it resulted in less spectacular images, and some of the original mission could not be fulfilled. An investigation finally revealed a spherical aberration in the primary mirror, due to a miscalibrated measuring instrument that caused the edges of the mirror to be ground slightly too flat. Engineers rushed to come up with a fix to the problem in time for Hubble's first scheduled servicing mission in 1993.

The system designed to correct the error was designated COSTAR, for Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement. COSTAR was a set of optics that compensated for the aberration and would allow all of Hubble's instruments to function normally. In December, 1993, the crew of STS-61 embarked on a service mission to replace a number of Hubble's parts. Following intensive training on the use of new tools never used before in space, two teams of astronauts completed repairs during a record five back-to-back spacewalks. During the EVAs, COSTAR was installed and the Wide Field/Planetary Camera was replaced with the Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2, which was designed to compensate for the mirror problem. The team also performed basic maintenance on the craft, installed new solar arrays, and replaced four of Hubble's gyroscopes. Shortly after the crew returned to Earth and the Hubble Space Telescope began returning sharp and spectacular images, NASA deemed the servicing mission a success. Astronomers could now take advantage of a fully functional space telescope, and the public was treated to breathtaking photos of stars, galaxies, nebulae, and other deep-space objects.

Subsequent servicing missions improved Hubble's capabilities and performed routine repairs. In February, 1997, the crew of STS-82 installed the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectograph (STIS) to detect infrared light from deep-space objects and take detailed photos of celestial objects. Servicing mission 3A in December, 1999 replaced all six of the telescope's aging gyroscopes, which accurately point the telescope at its target. STS-103 astronauts also replaced one of the telescope's three fine guidance sensors and installed a new computer, all in time to redeploy Hubble into orbit on Christmas Day. The most recent servicing mission to the spacecraft, servicing mission 3B, came aboard STS-109 in March, 2002. Columbia crewmembers installed the new Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), which had sharper vision, a wider field of view, and quicker data gathering than the Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2. Astronauts also replaced Hubble's solar panels with a more efficient array and conducted repairs on the NICMOS.

Hubble's Future As it continued to return groundbreaking photos of the universe and help astronomers do valuable research, the Hubble Space Telescope's future would once again be thrown into uncertainty by a Space Shuttle tragedy. On February 1, 2003, all seven astronauts aboard Columbia were killed as their Space Shuttle disintegrated during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. The resulting two-year period of investigations led to Administrator Sean O'Keefe's decision that future shuttle missions would go only to the International Space Station, where safe haven was possible, as well as inspection and repair of the Shuttle. Though the telescope was slated for servicing in 2005, O'Keefe concluded that another Hubble repair mission with the Shuttle would be too risky and ultimately rejected the option of sending another servicing mission. In late 2004 the National Academy of Sciences concluded that the risks were acceptable and recommended that a Shuttle mission should service Hubble after all. O'Keefe asked NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to conduct feasibility studies into a robotic servicing mission. Current Administrator Michael Griffin revisited the Hubble servicing mission decision and rejected the robotic servicing mission option, calling the $1 billion plan too costly.

He has also revisited the idea of a Shuttle repair flight, and pending successful Shuttle operations in the near future, NASA is preparing to send a mission to Hubble before the Space Shuttle is retired by the end of the decade. ADA Navigation HubbleSite - The Telescope - Hubble Essentials Hubble Essentials A collection of facts about the Hubble Space Telescope Hubble floats above Earth; March 2002. Enlarge photo . Since the earliest days of astronomy, since the time of Galileo, astronomers have shared a single goal — to see more, see farther, see deeper. The Hubble Space Telescope's launch in 1990 sped humanity to one of its greatest advances in that journey. Hubble is a telescope that orbits Earth. Its position above the atmosphere, which distorts and blocks the light that reaches our planet, gives it a view of the universe that typically far surpasses that of ground-based telescopes. Hubble is one of NASA's most successful and long-lasting science missions. It has beamed hundreds of thousands of images back to Earth, shedding light on many of the great mysteries of astronomy. Its gaze has helped determine the age of the universe, the identity of quasars, and the existence of dark energy.

Changing Astronomy Hubble's discoveries have transformed the way scientists look at the universe. Its ability to show the universe in unprecedented detail has turned astronomical conjectures into concrete certainties. It has winnowed down the collection of theories about the universe even as it sparked new ones, clarifying the path for future astronomers. Among its many discoveries, Hubble has revealed the age of the universe to be about 13 to 14 billion years, much more accurate than the old range of anywhere from 10 to 20 billion years. Hubble played a key role in the discovery of dark energy, a mysterious force that causes the expansion of the universe to accelerate. Hubble has shown scientists galaxies in all stages of evolution, including toddler galaxies that were around when the universe was still young, helping them understand how galaxies form. It found protoplanetary disks, clumps of gas and dust around young stars that likely function as birthing grounds for new planets. It discovered that gamma-ray bursts — strange, incredibly powerful explosions of energy — occur in far-distant galaxies when massive stars collapse. And these are only a handful of its many contributions to astronomy.

The sheer amount of astronomy based on Hubble observations has also helped make it one of history's most important observatories. More than 10,000 scientific articles have been published based on Hubble data. The policies that govern the telescope have contributed to its incredible productivity. The telescope is an instrument for the entire astronomical community — any astronomer in the world can submit a proposal and request time on the telescope. Teams of experts then select the observations to be performed. Once observations are completed, the astronomers have a year to pursue their work before the data is released to the entire scientific community. Because everyone gets to see the information, the observations have given rise to a multitude of findings — many in areas that would not have been predicted by the telescope’s original proposals. Hubble's success with these policies has helped spread them throughout the astronomical community, and they are becoming common with other observatories. Back to top WHY A SPACE TELESCOPE? The Hubble Space Telescope is the direct solution to a problem that telescopes have faced since the very earliest days of their invention: the atmosphere.

The quandary is twofold: Shifting air pockets in Earth's atmosphere distort the view of telescopes on the ground, no matter how large or scientifically advanced those telescopes are. This "atmospheric distortion" is the reason that the stars seem to twinkle when you look up at the sky. The atmosphere also partially blocks or absorbs certain wavelengths of radiation, like ultraviolet, gamma- and X-rays, before they can reach Earth. Scientists can best examine an object like a star by studying it in all the types of wavelengths that it emits. Newer ground-based telescopes are using technological advances to try to correct atmospheric distortion, but there's no way to see the wavelengths the atmosphere prevents from even reaching the planet. The most effective way to avoid the problems of the atmosphere is to place your telescope beyond it. Or, in Hubble's case, 353 miles (569 km) above the surface of Earth. Enlarge diagram Every 97 minutes, Hubble completes a spin around Earth, moving at the speed of about five miles per second (8 km per second) — fast enough to travel across the United States in about 10 minutes.

As it travels, Hubble's mirror captures light and directs it into its several science instruments. Hubble is a type of telescope known as a Cassegrain reflector. Light hits the telescope's main mirror, or primary mirror. It bounces off the primary mirror and encounters a secondary mirror. The secondary mirror focuses the light through a hole in the center of the primary mirror that leads to the telescope's science instruments. People often mistakenly believe that a telescope's power lies in its ability to magnify objects. Telescopes actually work by collecting more light than the human eye can capture on its own. The larger a telescope's mirror, the more light it can collect, and the better its vision. Hubble's primary mirror is 94.5 inches (2.4 m) in diameter. This mirror is small compared with those of current ground-based telescopes, which can be 400 inches (1,000 cm) and up, but Hubble's location beyond the atmosphere gives it remarkable clarity. Once the mirror captures the light, Hubble's science instruments work together or individually to provide the observation. Each instrument is designed to examine the universe in a different way.

The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) sees three different kinds of light: near-ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared, though not simultaneously. Its resolution and field of view are much greater than that of Hubble's other instruments. WFC3 is one of Hubble's two newest instruments, and will be used to study dark energy and dark matter, the formation of individual stars and the discovery of extremely remote galaxies previously beyond Hubble's vision. The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), Hubble's other new instrument, is a spectrograph that sees exclusively in ultraviolet light. Spectrographs acts something like prisms, separating light from the cosmos into its component colors. This provides a wavelength "fingerprint" of the object being observed, which tells us about its temperature, chemical composition, density, and motion. COS will improve Hubble's ultraviolet sensitivity at least 10 times, and up to 70 times when observing extremely faint objects. The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) sees visible light, and is designed to study some of the earliest activity in the universe.

ACS helps map the distribution of dark matter, detects the most distant objects in the universe, searches for massive planets, and studies the evolution of clusters of galaxies. ACS partially stopped working in 2007 due to an electrical short, but was repaired during Servicing Mission 4 in May 2009. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) is a spectrograph that sees ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared light, and is known for its ability to hunt black holes. While COS works best with small sources of light, such as stars or quasars, STIS can map out larger objects like galaxies. STIS stopped working due to a technical failure on August 3, 2004, but was also repaired during Servicing Mission 4. The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) is Hubble's heat sensor. Its sensitivity to infrared light — perceived by humans as heat — lets it observe objects hidden by interstellar dust, like stellar birth sites, and gaze into deepest space. Finally, the Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS) are devices that lock onto "guide stars" and keep Hubble pointed in the right direction.

They can be used to precisely measure the distance between stars, and their relative motions. All of Hubble's functions are powered by sunlight. Hubble sports solar arrays that convert sunlight directly into electricity. Some of that electricity is stored in batteries that keep the telescope running when it's in Earth's shadow, blocked from the Sun's rays. Enlarge graphic Hubble Control Center A quartet of antennae on the telescope sends and receives information between Hubble and the Flight Operations Team at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Engineers use satellites to communicate with the telescope, giving it directions and commands. The telescope has two main computers and a number of smaller systems. One of the main computers handles the commands that point the telescope and other system-wide functions. The other talks to the instruments, receives their data, and sends it to satellites that in turn transmit it to the ground. Once the ground station transfers the data to Goddard, Goddard sends it to the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), where staff translate the data into scientifically meaningful units — such as wavelength or brightness — and archive the information on 5.25-inch magneto-optical disks.

Hubble sends the archive enough information to fill about 18 DVDs every week. Astronomers can download archived data via the Internet and analyze it from anywhere in the world. Hundreds of engineers and computer scientists at Goddard Space Flight Center and STScI are responsible for keeping Hubble operating and monitoring its safety, health and performance. At Goddard, controllers monitor the telescope's health while they direct its movements and science activities. STScI staff also schedule use of the telescope, monitor and calibrate the instruments, operate the archive and conduct public outreach. Astronomers from around the world compete for time to use Hubble. More scientists want to use the telescope than there is time to use it, so a review committee of astronomy experts has to pick out the best proposals from the bunch. The winning proposals are the ones that make the best use of the telescope’s capabilities while addressing pressing astronomical questions. Each year around 1,000 proposals are reviewed and approximately 200 are selected, for a total of 20,000 individual observations. About Lyman Spitzer, Jr.

Illustration Credit: Kathy Cordes, STScI The idea for the space telescope arose in 1923, when German scientist Hermann Oberth, one of the founders of rocketry, suggested blasting a telescope into space aboard a rocket. In 1946, Lyman Spitzer Jr. , an American astrophysicist, wrote a paper proposing a space observatory. He would spend the next 50 years working to make the space telescope a reality. Spitzer was one of the main forces behind several of the orbiting observatories of the time, including the Copernicus satellite and the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory. His diligent advocacy helped spur NASA to approve the Large Space Telescope project in 1969. Because of budget considerations, the original proposal was downsized somewhat, decreasing the size of the telescope's mirror and the number of instruments it would carry. In 1974, the group working on the project suggested a telescope with a number of interchangeable instruments. They would be able to resolve at least one-tenth of an arcsecond and study wavelengths that ranged from ultraviolet to visible and infrared light.

The Space Shuttle would be used to put the telescope in orbit and either return it to Earth for repairs and replacement instruments, or service it in space. In 1975, the European Space Agency began to work together with NASA on a plan that would eventually become the Hubble Space Telescope. In 1977, Congress approved funding for the telescope. Diagram of the Space Telescope, 1981 Credit: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, 1981. Enlarge Diagram Shortly after Congress approved funding for the telescope, proposals for science instruments began to pour in. Five winners were chosen. Meanwhile, contractors, universities and NASA centers plunged into the effort. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., would handle design, development and construction of the telescope and its support systems. Goddard Space Flight Center would take care of the design, development and construction of the science instruments, and also perform ground control. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation was contracted to tackle the telescope assembly, including the mirrors and Fine Guidance Sensors, needed to point and direct the telescope. Lockheed Missiles (now Lockheed Martin) was hired to build the structure and supporting systems, put the telescope together, and test it.

By 1979, astronauts were training for the mission in an underwater tank to simulate weightlessness, using a telescope mock-up. In 1981, the Space Telescope Science Institute was established in Baltimore, Md., to evaluate proposals for telescope time and manage the science program. The space telescope was named the Hubble Space Telescope, after American astronomer Edwin Hubble , who showed that the fuzzy patches of light in the night sky were actually other galaxies, far distant from our own, and went on to prove that the universe was expanding. After some delays, Hubble's launch was scheduled for October 1986. But on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded just over a minute into its flight. Shuttle flights ceased for two years. The finished telescope parts were moved into storage. Hubble workers continued to tweak the telescope during the delay, improving the solar batteries and upgrading other systems. On April 24, 1990, Hubble finally launched into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.

The telescope carried five instruments: The Wide Field/Planetary Camera, the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph, the Faint Object Camera, the Faint Object Spectrograph and the High Speed Photometer. Back to top WE HAVE A PROBLEM Almost immediately after Hubble went into orbit, it became clear that something was wrong. While the pictures were clearer than those of ground-based telescopes, they weren't the pristine images promised. They were blurry. Hubble's primary mirror, polished so carefully and lovingly over the course of a full year, had a flaw called "spherical aberration." It was just slightly the wrong shape, causing the light that bounced off the center of the mirror to focus in a different place than the light bouncing off the edge. The tiny flaw — about 1/50th the thickness of a sheet of paper — was enough to distort the view. Fortunately, scientists and engineers were dealing with a well-understood optical problem — although in a wholly unique situation. And they had a solution. A series of small mirrors could be used to intercept the light reflecting off the mirror, correct for the flaw, and bounce the light to the telescope's science instruments.

The Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement, or COSTAR, could be installed in place of one of the telescope's other instruments in order to correct the images produced by the remaining and future instruments. Astronauts would also replace the Wide Field/Planetary Camera with a new version, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), that contained small mirrors to correct for the aberration. This was the first of Hubble's instruments to have built-in corrective optics. Astronauts and NASA staff spent 11 months training for one of the most complex space missions ever attempted. In addition to the critical nature of the mission, it would be the first test of the telescope's vaunted ability to be serviced and repaired in space. Enlarge image On December 2, 1993, the Space Shuttle Endeavor carried a crew of seven into orbit for a mission that would involve five days of spacewalks and repairs. They removed the High Speed Photometer and replaced it with COSTAR. They replaced the original Wide Field/Planetary Camera with the newer WFPC2. They performed a host of other tasks, replacing solar panels, fuse plugs, and other hardware. By December 9, they were finished.

NASA released the first new images from Hubble's fixed optics on January 13, 1994. The pictures were beautiful; their resolution, excellent. Hubble was transformed into the telescope that had been originally promised. Hubble would be successfully serviced and repaired several times afterwards. In February 1997, astronauts replaced the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph and the Faint Object Spectrograph with improved instruments, the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. In December 1999, they replaced a transmitter, all six gyroscopes, and one of three Fine Guidance Sensors, which allow fine pointing and keep Hubble stable during operations. In February 2002, astronauts added the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the first new instrument to be installed in Hubble since 1997. ACS doubled Hubble's field of view, using a much more sensitive detector than WFPC2. Each time astronauts performed a servicing mission, they also performed routine repair work — fixing solar panels and thermal blankets, and upgrading equipment. James Webb Space Telescope Web site Hubble's next servicing mission was scheduled for 2006.

But on February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia, returning from a research mission, broke apart while re-entering Earth's atmosphere. Shuttles were grounded. Then-NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe called the Hubble mission off, citing the safety guidelines that had been developed following the Columbia tragedy. The next NASA Administrator, Mike Griffin, revisited the cancellation upon his appointment in 2005 and expressed support for another mission. On October 31, 2006, he announced that Hubble would be serviced again. Servicing Mission 4 took place in May 2009. Astronauts upgraded the telescope with the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, and repaired the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. They replaced Hubble's batteries with new versions, and a Fine Guidance Sensor with a refurbished one; installed six new gyroscopes; and added new insulating panels to areas where Hubble's blankets had broken down.

They replaced the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling unit (SIC&DH), which helps command the science instruments and control the flow of data within the telescope, and had suffered an electrical problem in 2008. Finally, they attached a ring-like structure that will allow a robotic module to connect itself to Hubble in the future, in order to guide the telescope through its de-orbit. Astronauts headed back to Earth with a special piece of removed technology: COSTAR. All of Hubble's instruments since its initial launch have been designed with built-in corrections for the flawed mirror, eventually making COSTAR unnecessary. Servicing Mission 4 is expected to extend Hubble's life into at least 2013. A rejuvenated telescope will continue to beam images of the heavens back to Earth, transferring about 120 gigabytes of data every week. Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is currently in the works. JWST will study objects from the earliest universe, objects whose light has "redshifted," or stretched into infrared light.

From its orbit 940,000 miles (1.5 million km) away from Earth, JWST will unveil secrets about the birth of stars, solar systems and galaxies by peering through the dust that blocks visible light. The telescope is scheduled to launch this decade. Back to top ALL GOOD THINGS Eventually, Hubble's time will end. As the years progress, Hubble's components will slowly degrade to the point at which the telescope stops working. When that happens, Hubble will continue to orbit Earth until its orbit decays, allowing it to spiral toward Earth. Though NASA originally hoped to bring Hubble back to Earth for museum display, the telescope's prolonged lifespan has placed it beyond the date for the retirement of the space shuttle program. Hubble was designed specifically to function with the space shuttle, so the replacement vehicle will likely not be able to return it to the ground. A robotic mission is expected to help de-orbit Hubble, guiding its remains through a plunge through the atmosphere and into the ocean. But Hubble's legacy — its discoveries, its trailblazing design, its success in showing us the universe in unparalleled detail — will live on.

Scientists will rely on Hubble's revelations for years as they continue in their quest to understand the cosmos — a quest that has attained clarity, focus, and triumph through Hubble's rich existence. Hubble Space Telescope: Pictures, Facts & History Hubble Space Telescope: Pictures, Facts & History By Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor | April 24, 2013 07:13am ET MORE Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has provided a dazzling array of images that have awed and inspired the public. More than just pretty pictures, the more than 45 terabytes of data collected has provided insight into the universe, from objects as close as the moon to the most remote galaxies, with incredible photos of supernovas and nebulas in between. Below we explore the history of the telescope and its discoveries, plus Hubble facts and links to some of the orbiting observatory’s best pictures. First, we take a look at an iconic photo. No Hubble picture is more widely recognized than the view of the so-called Pillars of Creation within the Eagle Nebula.

[See a gallery of recent Hubble pictures .] This 1995 Hubble Space Telescope image of the 'Pillars of Creation' is probably the most famous astronomical image of the 20th Century. Taken in visible light using a combination of SII/H-alpha and OIII filters, it shows a part of the Eagle Nebula where new stars are forming. The tallest pillar is around 4 light-years high. Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI, Hester & Scowen (Arizona State University) Hubble history: From major flaw to perfection When Galileo first turned a spyglass to the heavens in 1610, he had trouble making out the rings of Saturn that are visible in inexpensive telescopes today. Advances in optics improved scientists' views of the planets, stars, and distant galaxies, but Earth's atmosphere still blocked much of the light for observers on the ground. Larger telescopes were (and still are) placed on high mountains, where thinner atmospheres allow clearer pictures. In 1923, German scientist Hermann Oberth first suggested that a telescope could be launched into orbit to help overcome the distortions caused by the atmosphere.

As rocket launchings became more commonplace, the idea became feasible, and in 1969, approval was given for the launch of a Large Space Telescope. But its development took longer than preparing for a trip to the moon. In 1975, the European Space Agency began to work with NASA on the plan that would eventually become Hubble. Congress approved funding for the telescope in 1977. The birth of the reusable Space Shuttle provided a new mechanism for delivering such a telescope into space. The Large Space Telescope was renamed the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in honor of Edwin Hubble , an American astronomer who, among other things, determined that the universe extended beyond the borders of Milky Way. The world’s first space telescope was then launched on April 24, 1990. The effort cost $1.5 billion, but there would be ongoing costs — both expected and unexpected. There was a big problem right off the bat. Hubble had a flawed mirror, researchers learned when the telescope reached orbit and was put to work. The images were fuzzy — close to useless. Hubble's main mirror had a major defect, a spherical aberration caused by a manufacturing error.

The flaw was just 1/50th the thickness of a sheet of paper. It took three years before NASA could mount a repair mission. On Decc. 2, 1993, the Space Shuttle Endeavor ferried a crew of seven to fix Hubble during five days of spacewalks. Two new cameras, including the Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC-2) — which later took many of Hubble's most famous photos — were installed during the fix. In December 1993, the first new images from Hubble reached Earth. And they were breathtaking. Hubble has been serviced five times. Astronauts had to replace batteries and directional gyroscopes, among other fix-it projects. Its final servicing mission took place in 2009 ( gallery ). The telescope is expected to continue to function until 2014. NASA plans to replace it with the James Webb Telescope , scheduled to launch in 2018. Hubble discoveries The Hubble Space Telescope's elevated perspective and advanced optics allow it to peer farther away than previous ground-based optics are able to see.

Because light takes time to travel long distances, the range of the HST makes it function similar to a time machine ; the light it views from remote objects only reveals how that object appeared when the light left it, not how it appears today. Thus when we look at the Andromeda galaxy, 2.5 million light-years from Earth, we see it as it was 2.5 million years ago. This image shows primordial dwarf galaxy candidates circled in green. Three enlargements at right show several dwarf objects that are at the limits of Hubble's present instrument capabilities. The Hubble UDF is a small region of sky in the direction of the southern constellation Fornax. The faintest objects are less than one four-billionth the brightness of stars that can be seen with the naked eye. Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Windhorst (Arizona State University) and H. Yan (Spitzer Science Center, Caltech) And with Hubble, distant objects are revealed that otherwise can’t be seen at all. When astronomers pointed the HST to a seemingly-empty patch of sky, for instance, they captured an image of over 3,000 galaxies too distant to be detected by other telescopes.

Some of the galaxies were so young, they had not yet begun serious star formation. Other deep field observations have since been taken, providing a wealth of information. In addition to gazing at the early universe, Hubble also helped astronomers gauge how much time had passed since the Big Bang. By measuring a special kind of pulsing star known as a Cepheid variable , they were able to narrow down the age of the universe from its pre-HST range of 10 to 20 billion years to a more precise 13.7 billion years. In addition to galaxies, the Hubble Space Telescope also examines individual stars in various stages of their evolution – from the clouds of dust that form infant stars to the corpses of those long since detonated, and those in between. It has even been able to peer outside of our galaxy, the Milky Way, and into its neighbors, the Magellanic Clouds and Andromeda Galaxy . More challenging to see than stars are planets orbiting other suns. Yet in 2008, Hubble captured pictures of the planet Fomalhaut b, the first time an extrasolar planet was directly imaged in visible light. But most planets are more challenging to photograph.

Much of the HST's work with other planets comes through the detection of their atmosphere as they pass in front of their sun; the atmosphere filters the light from the stars, and the Hubble records the changes. The Hubble Space Telescope may spend much of its time peering light-years from Earth, but on occasion it takes the time to photograph the planets traveling around our sun. High resolution images taken of Jupiter, Saturn, and even Pluto can provide insights that can only be topped by planetary probes circling the planets. Images from the HST allows scientists on Earth to monitor changes in the planet's atmosphere and surface. When the comet Shoemaker-Levy crashed into the Jupiter in 1994, the Hubble Space Telescope photographed the fatal collision. The aftermath revealed a great deal about the gas giant's atmosphere. In orbit for more than two decades, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided scientists with a greater understanding of the planets, galaxy, and the whole universe. Among the Most Amazing Hubble Discoveries and research projects: Creating a 3-D map of mysterious dark matter. Discovering Nix and Hydra, two moons of Pluto. Helping determine the rate of the universe’s expansion.

Discovering that nearly every major galaxy is anchored by a black hole. Helping refine the age of the universe. Great Hubble Pictures Below are some of the best images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope [See a gallery of awesome Hubble pictures ]: The Helix Nebula, a planetary nebula in the constellation Aquarius also known as the "Eye of God." Credit: NASA, ESA, and C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University) This massive, young stellar grouping, called R136, is only a few million years old and resides in the 30 Doradus Nebula, a turbulent star-birth region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. Credit: NASA, ESA, and F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee The Hubble Space Telescope has caught the most detailed view of the Crab Nebula in one of the largest images ever assembed by the space-based observatory. Credit: NASA/ESA and Jeff Hester (Arizona State University). Hubble catches Jupiter changing its stripes.

High and low elevation clouds switch places, changing their shape and color as they do so. Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon-Miller (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), A. SÃ¡nchez-Lavega, R. Hueso, and S. PÃ©rez-Hoyos (University of the Basque Country), E. GarcÃ­a-Melendo (Esteve Duran Observatory Foundation, Spain), and G. Orton (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Hubble catches an instantaneous glimpse of many hundreds of thousands of stars moving about in the globular cluster M13. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) See links to more images below. Hubble facts The Hubble Space Telescope is a joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency.

Here are some basic facts about the telescope and the mission, courtesy the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), which operates Hubble for NASA: Telescope size Length: 43.5 ft (13.2 m) Weight: 24,500 lb (11,110 kg) Maximum Diameter: 14 ft (4.2 m) Mission facts Launch: April 24, 1990 from space shuttle Discovery (STS-31) Deployment: April 25, 1990 Servicing Mission 1: December 1993 Servicing Mission 2: February 1997 Servicing Mission 3A: December 1999 Servicing Mission 3B: February 2002 Servicing Mission 4: May 2009 Spaceflight stats Orbit: Average altitude of 307 nautical miles (569 km, or 353 miles), inclined 28.5 degrees to the equator.

Time to Complete one orbit: 97 minutes Speed: 17,500 mph (28,000 kph) Data data Hubble transmits about 120 gigabytes of science data every week. That would be roughly 3,600 feet (1,097 meters) of books on a shelf. The collection of pictures and data is stored on magneto-optical disks. Power Mechanism: Two 25-foot solar panels Power usage: 2,800 watts Batteries: 6 nickel-hydrogen (NiH), with a storage capacity equal to 20 car batteries Optics Telescope: Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Space Telescope A space telescope gets down to the details pages: An introduction to NASA’s Great Observatories In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope, named in honor of astronomer Edwin Hubble, was launched into orbit around the Earth. The telescope, a basic reflector with a 94.5-inch (2.4-meter) mirror, was packed with instruments that would give astronomers clear views of the universe in visible, infrared and ultraviolet light.

Without the Earth’s atmosphere blocking its view, Hubble would be able to observe details of astronomical objects that had never been seen before. Disaster strikes It was a long-delayed dream about to come true. NASA had started working on Hubble, the first telescope in the Great Observatories program, in 1977. It was originally supposed to be launched in 1985. But then the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986, and flights came to a halt while NASA tried to figure out how to safely resume them. The delay made it difficult to schedule a time to get Hubble into space. Other flights came first. Conditions had to be right. It was years before Hubble finally sped toward space on the space shuttle Discovery. Proceed: The best of Hubble: NASA marks telescope's 25th anniversary | Fox News Astronomy The best of Hubble: NASA marks telescope's 25th anniversary On April 24, 1990, NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope.

The telescope rocketed into space aboard the shuttle Discovery, and now after 25 years of giving people a glimpse at some of the farthest reaches of outer space, Hubble has been honored by NASA with a week-long celebration. Here are some of the best views of the cosmos captured by Hubble. 25th anniversary NASA Hubble Space Telescope image NASA , ESA , the Hubble Heritage Team ( STScI / AURA ), A. Nota ( ESA / STScI ), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team 25th-anniversary-nasa-hubble-space-telescope-image Hubble panoramic view of Orion Nebula NASA , ESA , M. Robberto ( Space Telescope Science Institute / ESA ) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team hubble-panoramic-view-of-orion-nebula Spiral galaxy Messier NASA , ESA , K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H.

Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana), and STScI spiral-galaxy-messier- Core of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520 NASA , ESA , CFHT, CXO, M.J. Jee (University of California, Davis), and A. Mahdavi (San Francisco State University) core-of-the-merging-galaxy-cluster-abell-520 NASA - STS-31 Mission Duration: 5 days, 1 hour, 16 minutes, 6 seconds Returned to KSC: May 7, 1990 Orbit Altitude: 330 nautical miles Orbit Inclination: 28.45 degrees Crew Members Image above: STS-31 Crew photo with Commander Loren J. Shriver , Pilot Charles F. Bolden, Jr. , Mission Specialists Steven A. Hawley , Bruce McCandless II and Kathryn D. Sullivan . Image Credit: NASA Launch Highlights The launch was scheduled for April 18, then April 12, then April 10, following the Flight Readiness Review (FRR). The first date set at FRR was earlier than that shown on previous planning schedules.

The launch scheduled for April 10 was scrubbed at T-4 minutes due to a faulty valve in auxiliary power unit (APU) number one. The APU was replaced and payload batteries recharged. Countdown briefly halted at T-31 seconds when computer software failed to shut down a fuel valve line on ground support equipment. Engineers ordered valve to shut and countdown continued. Mission Highlights The primary payload, Hubble Space Telescope, deployed in a 380-statute-mile orbit. Secondary payloads: IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC) to document operations outside crew cabin and hand-held IMAX camera for use inside crew cabin; Ascent Particle Monitor (APM) to detect particulate matter in payload bay; Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) to provide data on growing protein crystals in microgravity; Radiation Monitoring Equipment III (RME III) to measure gamma ray levels in crew cabin; Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP) to determine porosity control in microgravity environment; Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiment to study effects of near-weightlessness on electrical arcs, and Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment. NASA's John F.

Kennedy Space Center Related Sites StarChild: The Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope Guess what? The Hubble Space Telescope was named after Edwin Hubble , an astronomer whose contributions to astronomy include a classification system for galaxies and the Hubble Constant. The Hubble Constant defines the relationship between a galaxy's distance from the Earth and the speed with which the galaxy is moving away from the Earth. Sing me a song about HST! Sorry, your browser does not support the audio element, please consider updating. ( Words ) Long before man ventured into space, astronomers longed for the ability to put a telescope in space far above Earth's obscuring atmosphere . In 1962, a National Academy of Sciences committee recommended the development of just such a telescope. In 1968 and 1972, satellites for observing the stars were launched. These satellites provided the basis on which a larger, more powerful space-based telescope could be built. With the development of the Space Shuttle came the capability for the delivery and servicing of a space telescope. In 1973, NASA selected a team of scientists to determine the basic design of the telescope while Congress authorized the funding for the telescope in 1977.

Construction and assembly of the telescope was completed in 1985. The Hubble Space Telescope was originally due to be launched in 1986, but the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger delayed the launch until April 24, 1990. Once in orbit , a defect in the optical mirrors of the telescope prevented the clarity that scientists had hoped for when viewing images provided by the telescope. On December 2, 1993, a crew from the Space Shuttle Endeavor installed corrective devices which brought the images into clear focus . Servicing the Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble has a variety of scientific instruments on-board. Among the instrumentation are two cameras, two spectrographs , and guidance sensors. Hubble is controlled by scientists here on Earth who use gyroscopes to measure the rate at which Hubble is moving. When Hubble is being re-aimed from one object to another, it moves very, very slowly. Other gyroscopes help keep the telescope pointed steadily at its target. Scientists communicate with Hubble by radio signals. Hubble, in turn, sends images and data it has gathered to Earth by radio signals.

Data from Hubble are relayed to the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) that is in a geosynchronous orbit above Earth. This satellite relays the data to a terminal in White Sands, New Mexico. This terminal then sends the information up to another satellite which then sends it down to NASA at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Any communication to Hubble has to travel back along the same path. Hubble has two solar panels which are each 2.3 meters by 11.9 meters in size. These panels convert sunlight directly into electricity which Hubble then uses to power its instrumentation. It takes 96 minutes for Hubble to complete one orbit of Earth. The Hubble was designed to work in orbit for fifteen years. The Space Shuttle and its astronauts are to perform servicing missions throughout Hubble's lifetime. In addition to keeping Hubble running smoothly, astronauts will attach new instrumentation to further increase Hubble's capabilities. Just such a mission occurred in February of 1997 when the astronauts not only installed new instruments, but made repairs to the insulation which protects Hubble from the extreme temperatures in space. Diagram of the Space Telescope

Question: Which telescope was launched into space on board a space shuttle in 1990?
Answer: Hubble