Last week we talked about Hubble, the space telescope, and how its much-anticipated launch was expected to bring a wealth of new data via the beautiful images it would capture. However, a manufacturing flaw in the telescope’s primary mirror meant the images beamed back were blurry and essentially useless.
It took a while for NASA and the European Space Agency to decide what to do about this catastrophic, $1.5 billion failure, but thankfully, they decided to invest additional resources into Hubble and come up with a fix.
The space telescope had been made for periodic servicing, so it wasn’t wholly unexpected that a space shuttle crew would be sent up to swap out instruments as technological advancements were made, as well as replace limited-life electronics. In 1993, three years after Hubble was first launched, the crew of the Endeavour was sent to do a major overhaul of the telescope.
Hubble was pulled into the space shuttle’s cargo bay and the astronauts spent five days tinkering and installing two new systems. They were the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), which essentially functioned as a pair of glasses to correct Hubble’s fuzzy vision. As a kid in need of a serious pair of eyeglasses myself, it was pretty cool to hear about how Hubble was able to see so clearly once the new systems were installed.
Hubble’s new sharp vision as well as subsequent space shuttle missions to install additional items have allowed scientists to make breakthroughs based on observations near and far.
Hubble has studied many objects in our solar system, and the photos taken have led to a plethora of discoveries. Those who hate the demotion of Pluto from planet to dwarf planet can at least partially blame the space telescope. Observations of Pluto and other nearby Kuiper Belt objects in the outer solar system helped lead scientists to that unpopular decision. However, Hubble also discovered two new moons orbiting around Pluto.
Other moons in our solar system have had a similar up-close treatment from the telescope, which has detected possible building blocks of life on a few of them, such as the prospect of liquid water on Jupiter’s moons of Ganymede and Europa.
On the distant end, Hubble helped to narrow down the age of the universe (13.75 billion years) which allows us to better understand (or at least hypothesize) how the universe has changed over time.
Images from Hubble have also assisted with the discovery that super-massive black holes (yes, super-massive is a technical term) are likely found at the center of most galaxies. They’ve also helped to pinpoint areas of dark matter in our universe.
Above all, Hubble has helped to spark the imagination of the public with its stunning images, which grace book covers, magazines, and yes, even newspapers.
LOOKING UP THIS WEEK – At dusk, you’ll see Jupiter in the east and a very bright Venus in the west. As Venus sets, Saturn rises, followed a couple of hours later by a reddish Mars.
The moon is currently a waxing crescent and will be first quarter on Wednesday.
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