What Is the Hubble Space Telescope

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is a telescope that orbits Earth. It was launched in 1990. It takes pictures of stars and galaxies.

It also measures distances in space. It was named after astronomer Edwin Hubble.

Hubble is a Cassegrain reflector telescope. It orbits around 350 miles (560 kilometers), above Earth’s surface.

It takes pictures of space objects using a camera called an imager. Hubble orbits around Earth every five days.

Keep on reading to find out more about what the Hubble Space Telescope is.

Who Was The Hubble Space Telescope Named After?

Edwin Hubble invented the telescope and used it to discover new things about our galaxy. He also discovered that the universe is expanding.

This discovery overturned previous scientific theories about how the universe came into existence.

Quest For Funding

The United States government decided to fund the construction of a large space telescope called the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

The HST was launched into orbit in 1990.

This space telescope has made many discoveries about the universe. Large-scale letter-writing campaigns were organized among astronomers.

Astronomers met congressmen senators in person, and large-scale letter-writing campaigns were coordinated.

The National Academy of Science published a report emphasizing the importance of a space telescope, and ultimately the Senate agreed to half of the original budget that had been approved by Congress.

The funding issues led to something less than a full-scale project. The planned mirror size was reduced to save money.

The planned precursor telescope was dropped. Budgetary constraints forced collaboration with the European Space Agency.

Congress eventually approved funding of $36 million for 1978, but the design of the LSS was delayed until 1983.

Construction And Engineering

The Hubble Space Telescope was designed by NASA and built by contractors. The telescope was launched into orbit on April 24th, 1990.

The telescope was named after Edwin P. Hubble who discovered galaxies in 1929.

MSFC commissioned the optics company PERKIN-ELMER to design and build the optical tube assembly and fine guidance sensors for the space telescope.

LOCKHEED was commissioned to construct and integrate the spacecraft in which the telescopes would be housed.

Getting Hubble Off The Ground

Galileo was the first person to use a telescope. He discovered Jupiter’s four moons and saw the phases of Venus. He also found many other things.

A large telescope was needed to study distant stars and galaxies.

Astronomers wanted a telescope as large as possible to see farther into space.

After several years of planning, the telescope was finally launched in 1990.

Hubble Discoveries

Hubble’s elevated perspective and advanced optical capabilities allow it to peer farther than ground-based telescopes can see.

Light travels faster than sound, so Hubble sees distant galaxies as they were billions of years ago, not as they appear now.

This allows us to learn more about the universe by looking back in time, instead of forward in time.

The Hubble telescope reveals distant objects that otherwise can’t be observed.

In 1995, astronomers used the Hubble telescope to capture images of over 3,000 far away galaxies.

In 2004, they released the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. In 2012, they released the Hubble Extreme Deep Field.

Hubble helped astronomers measure how much time had passed after the big bang. This allowed them to figure out the age of the universe.

Dark matter is invisible, but it makes up about 80 percent of the mass of the universe.

It doesn’t interact with normal matter, but it does affect how the universe expands.

Supermassive black holes are found at the center of many galaxies. Hubble has made a 3D map of them.

Hubble has taken pictures of many different types of objects. Some of them include: galaxies, stars, black holes, and planets.

Hubble has even seen some planets around other stars. The Hubble telescope was used to discover four of Pluto’s moons.

Scientists use images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to study objects in space.

In 1994, the HST photographed the impact of a comet fragment onto Jupiter.

Afterward, scientists were able to see how Jupiter’s atmosphere changed due to the impact.

In addition, the HST has observed water plumes erupting off of Europa, a moon of Jupiter.

Hubble has been very successful in observing the universe. It has made many discoveries about the universe.

Some of them include: A strange bubble was found inside a nebula. An unusual object was seen near a galaxy.

A large galaxy cluster was detected. A new type of star was seen. A comet was seen. A planet was seen. A comet exploded.

A comet was seen again. A comet was seen falling apart. A comet was seen coming back. A comet was seen going away.

A comet was seen leaving. A comet was seen returning. A comet was seen exploding. A comet was seen disappearing.

A comet was seen moving around. A comet was seen changing colors. A comet was seen getting bigger.

A comet was seen growing smaller. 2013 was a year of discovery. Scientists observed Comet ISON before it disintegrated.

A star exploded. New moons were found. And astronomers learned more about the Milky Way galaxy.

Showing Its Age

Hubble has been showing signs of aging.

In the summer of 2021, the telescope went offline because of a problem with its main payload computer (CPU).

The team fixed the problem by using backup hardware.

A few months later, in Oct. 2021, a problem occurred with the synchronization of Hubble’s internal messaging system, sending all five of its scientific instruments into safe mode.

The mission team was able to get all the equipment back online within a few months.

Hubble is still working fine. It’s just that some parts need fixing.

Hubble’s systems could last until 2025, but it’s possible that they’ll continue to function after that.

The James Webb Telescope was launched on December 25th, 2021, and arrived at its final location on January 3rd, 2022.

Webb will be used as an infrared telescope.

Astronomers are excited about using Webb and Hubble together because they will be able to study the same objects and phenomena.

This will give them more information about the universe.

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit around the earth on April 24th, 1990.

It took 30 years for the Hubble to be completed. It surpassed a major milestone when it went into service.

The Hubble has been used to capture amazing images of the cosmos.

Some of these images include the rings of Saturn, the planet Neptune, the moon Europa, the planet Mars, and many other things.

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured some of the most beautiful images ever taken.

Possible Service Missions

As of 2017, NASA is planning to launch a crewed version of the Dream Chaser space plane to service the Hubble telescope.

SpaceX Crew Dragon Orioncan perform another repair mission within 10 years.

While robotic technology isn’t yet sophisticated enough, he says, with another crewed trip “we could keep Hubble going for several more decades”.

With new gyros and instruments, it could be used for many more decades.

Conclusion

The Hubble Space Telescope has helped us answer many important questions about our universe.

It has given us new insights into the nature of dark energy and dark matter, and it has provided some of the most detailed images ever obtained of the cosmos.