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| Sourced From: http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/brucemedalists/hubble/ |
History of the Hubble Telescope
Since the beginning of time mankind has been attempting to investigate the cosmos but has always been limited by the capability of human vision and thus giving humans the inability to understand the universe. Classical astronomers such as Copernicus , Galileo, and Kepler from the 16th and 17th century had the advantage to use the telescope, enhancing their vision also giving them the ability to observe and understand the universe. Telescopes have evolved over the years being bigger and better allowing us to collect data about planets, stars, galaxies. With spectroscopy and photography make great strides, telescopes have become more versatile, sensitive, and given more power for discovery.
In 1924, an american astronomer Edwin Hubble was able to prove to the rest of the world how much we really didn't know about the universe. At the time during the 20th century, most of world had their heads wrapped around the idea that universe consisted of only one galaxy, our milky way galaxy. Edwin Hubble set out on an expedition to Los Angeles, California atop Mount Wilson and using a 100 inch hooker telescope, he was able to observe billions of other galaxies and forever changing our perception of the universe. He also noticed that almost all the galaxies he had observed were moving away from each other. The supported the Big Bang theory as it suggested that the universe was indeed expanding.
Many astronomers like Edwin Hubble were able to make amazing observations through telescopes and observatories but they all faced similar critical issues disabling them from obtaining a clear view of the universe, which was the earth's atmosphere. Due to the physical make up of earth's atmosphere visible light was often blurred and it absorbed
many other wavelengths of lights making the observations of ultraviolet, gamma rays, x-rays, etc virtually impossible. [1]
In 1923, a German astronomer by the name Hermann Oberth wrote about the benefits of a telescope in space. Hermann Oberth was a founding father in space travel and he was able explain how it was possible for a telescope to be propelled into the earth's orbit using a rocket. In the late 1940's and early 1960 when NASA went on expeditions into space they decided to send scientific instruments to collect data such as balloons, smaller rockets, satellites. These additions to the space crafts provided enough evidence of how much was still to be discovered. In 1968 and 1972 NASA was able to launch two successful satellites which were designed to observe stars. These satellites produced a heap of information and the support for a space telescope grew. NASA began to organize a team of scientists to begin designing this telescope and the instruments needed in 1973 and in 1977 Congress finally authorize the funding for the project.
Many other organizations suddenly offered to be apart of the project. Marshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama was assigned the duty of designing, developing, and constructing the the telescope. A Maryland based flight center by name Goddard Space was responsible for the development of the scientific instruments and ground control center. Perkin Elmer Corporation was chosen to develop the optical system and guidance sensors. The European Space Agency agreed that they would furnish the solar arrays and one of the scientific instruments.
In 1985 the ground control center for the the telescope was established and its purpose was to compute computer commands and relay it to the telescope and in turn the observation data received is formatted into common data which is usable. The actual construction and assembly of the telescope was very difficult and dragged out for almost a decade. The precision ground mirror was completed in 1981 and the remaining of the optics was delivered for integration into the satellite in 1984. The assembly of the actual space shuttle that was going to the launch the telescope in space was an entirely different process that took a lot of time in it self. The assembly of the space shuttle was completed in 1985.
Sourced From :http://www.spacetelescope.org/about/
In 1986 the original launch for the telescope was scheduled but disaster stuck due to the Challenger accident. NASA's space shuttle, the challenger, broke about 73 seconds in to it's flight causing the death of several NASA astronauts. Due to the incident, the launch for the telescope was postponed but this gave engineers a chance to re evaluate and conduct intensive testing on the telescope. In 1989 the telescope was shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In April 24, 1990 the telescope was finally launched aboard the STS-31 mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Sourced From: http://blogs.sacbee.com/photos/2011/03/space-shuttle-discoverys-final.html
The Hubble Space Telescope was designed to be in space for 15 years it was said to be approximately 10 times better than any telescope on earth. However, within a few months a major defect was detected aboard the telescope. The Hubble's main mirror had an optical distortion which was due to an incorrect shape in the mirror. The edge of the mirror was to flat by 1/50th the width of a human hair and this caused a blur in the images of all celestial objects. Although the camera equipped on the Hubble telescope could produce pictures better than telescopes on ground.
The huge advantage to Hubble telescope was that the parts were serviceable and interchangeable making it easy to change failed parts or update the telescope. The problem NASA faced was that the lens could not be removed but optics could be fixed by placing a corrective lens. NASA had also planned to service the telescope so this wasn't a problem.
NASA had to properly train 7 selected astronauts and had to practice the procedure for close to year and a half. Their duty was to install the Wide Field/Planetary Camera and the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement. On December 2, 1993 the crew of astronauts launched into space with the challenge of installing and fixing the Hubble Telescope lens. The was successfully able to install the Wide Field/ Planetary Camera and replaced the high speed photo meter with the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial. They also installed a new computer co-processor which allowed the telescopes computer memory and processor to process information much faster.
Sourced From: http://forum.xcitefun.net/unbeatable-pics-of-repairing-of-hubble-telescope-t31770.html
The Hubble Telescope has allowed scientist to understand the universe far more and the technology that was produced from it has also had its impact. Non surgical breast biopsy techniques developed using imagining Charge Couple Devices which were originally supposed to be used for the Hubble Telescope. The technology allows doctors to detect lumps in women's breast.
The Hubble Telescope was designed and expected to last for 15 years to come and 3 additional servicing missions are planned to keep the Telescope running without compromises. Already due to these service trips the Hubble Telescope has been able to add on The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer, The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, and an Advanced Camera. [2]
At the current day NASA's Hubble Telescope is 23 years old and is expected to last until 2018. NASA has been able to preserve the iconic Telescope and prolong its expected life dramatically. NASA now has plans for the Hubble Telescope's successor and it's reported to be on track with production. It is known as the as the JWST Telescope set to be launched in 2018. [3]
Great Discoveries of the Hubble Telescope
1. Dark Matter
]sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter
Dark matter makes up roughly 23% of the universe and Hubble Telescope has helped construct the largest 3D map. Scientists have a good idea now how the dark matter is distributed around the universe. This has helped show the clumps and growing clumps of dark matter over time and the normal gravity caused by it. By better understanding how dark matter behaves, scientist can understand further what is actually is.
2. Alien Worlds
sourced from:http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~cgt/planet/AAPS_Home.html
The Hubble Telescope has been used to find many extra solar planets and there has been close to 400 extra solar planets discovered. The Hubble Telescope has also allowed scientist to figure out the chemical composition of the atmospheres on exo-planets and imaging of visible light. This is important because having knowledge about other planet that possibly in habitable can lead to us knowing if other life forms exist.
3. Age of the Universe
Sourced From: http://www.karlremarks.com/2013/04/study-confirms-that-lebanon-is-indeed.html
The age of the universe has always been a mystery and it was impossible to know how long ago the beginning of time actually was. The Bubble Telescope has been able to narrow down the rate of expansion in the universe. With the Hubble's calculations, the age of the Universe has now been estimated to roughly 13.75 billion years old. This is important because it allows scientists to model our universe and understand how it has evolved over this time frame. Also it helps with understanding other seemingly unrelated cosmic parameters such as the mass of neutrinos. [4]
Sources
1. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/the_story.html
2. http://quest.nasa.gov/hst/about/history.html
3. http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/202282-nasa-confirms-hubble-telescope-successor-is-on-time-on-budget-for-2018
4. http://www.space.com/17-amazing-hubble-discoveries.html
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