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READ: Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
Photos courtesy of SEDS (left picture, right picture). Photos are in the public domain.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) adds to Edwin Hubble's research, measuring distances with the greatest degree of accuracy possible. The HST has given astronomers beautiful and instructive images.
It is only fitting that this premier telescope is named after Hubble, who helped revolutionize the field of astronomy. Through his research, Hubble proved that larger, more powerful telescopes were needed to fully explore the universe. Hubble assisted in the design and development of the Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego, and made the first observations of space with it. When asked what he expected from the new telescope, he answered, "We hope to find something we hadn't expected". With the Hubble Space Telescope, this quest continues.
When the HST was first launched, scientists discovered an error in the construction of the mirrors aboard the telescope. This imperfection caused the images to be out of focus. This only added to public backlash of NASA's space program, when some members of the press and the public wrote off the Hubble Space Telescope as being too expensive, risky, and complex. Efforts by workers at many institutions in NASA and outside the agency placed corrective optics and a new camera system (which are being used to image Neptune) aboard the Hubble, in the first of several always-planned servicing missions.
Source
http://quest.nasa.gov/hst/tg/intro.html (adapted from Exploring the Universe with the Hubble Space Telescope, edited by Valerie Neal, NASA, NP-126, p.18.)
Last modified: Tuesday, 24 August 2010, 1:23 PM