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- Joint project between the United States's NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA)
- Construction began in 1978
- Launched into orbit in April of 1990
- Originally estimated construction cost: $400 million
- By 1999, total cost of the project was over $6 billionESA: European Homepage for the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope - Frequently Asked Questions
- Named after astronomer Edwin P. Hubble
- Primary mirror is 2.4 meters in diameter
- Orbits 589 kilometers above the Earth's surface
- Completes an orbit 96 minutesNASA: Main Hubble Page
- One of the four orbiting telescopes collectively named NASA's "Great Observatories"
- Produced the Ultra Deep Field, the most detailed photograph of the Universe taken in the spectrum of visible lightHubbleSite: Hubble's Deepest View Ever of the Universe Unveils Earliest Galaxies (March 9, 2004)
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The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is the largest observatory ever launched into orbit. Its position above Earth's atmosphere allows the HST to gather much more detailed images and readings than ground-based telescopes.
The Space Shuttle Atlantis embarked on an 11 day mission to make repairs and upgrade the HST on May 11, 2009. On May 14, 2009, astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel set out on their first spacewalk at approximately 9:00 a.m. EST. The two began replacing a 15-year-old camera with an upgraded version that was the size of a "baby grand piano." The repairs/upgrades were successfully completed on May 18, 2009.FOXNews.com: Astronauts Begin First Spacewalk to Fix Hubble (May 14, 2009)Reuters: Astronauts pluck Hubble Space... (May 13, 2009)FOXNews.com: Astronauts Wrap Up Last Spacewalk of Mission (May 18, 2009)
Space Shuttle Atlantis
The Space Shuttle Atlantis launched on May 11, 2009, carrying a crew of seven astronauts. The astronauts are set to perform repairs and maintenance on the HST, in a series of five spacewalks. The enhancements were expected to make the machine 100 times more powerful, allowing it to examine the universe's mysterious dark matter and dark energy more deeply than ever before.National Geographic: Shuttle Launch Successful; Final Hubble Repairs Await (May 11, 2009)Control System Failure
On September 27, 2008 the Hubble's Science Instrument Control and Data Handling system went down, forcing a switch to the backup channel. However, the backup channel experienced a communications failure, and scientists analyzed downloaded data to identify the cause of the problem. Astronauts were trained to remove the malfunctioning computer and install a spare.CNN: More trouble for NASA's Hubble (October 17, 2008)-
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Hubble Space Telescope Questions
Can we use moon as a base for our next gen space telescope? 2 AnswersAs you point out, the biggest disadvantage to placing an observatory on the moon is the cost. Other difficulties include protecting the telescope's optics from... read more
What are the best photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope? 8 AnswersI like this one; http://www.astronomy-pictures.net/eta-carinae.jpg and this one; http://i.dailymail.co.uk/img/galleries/hubble/NO8_350x312.jpg and this one; htt... read more
What the are the top five discoveries of the hubble telescope? 1 Answerhere is a nice list of a top ten i found on google http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/04/photogalleries/hubble/index.html read more
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Hubble Space Telescope Timeline
- 1969: American astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer gathers the support for his project of an orbital telescope.
- 1977: Congress approves funding for the project.
- April 25, 1990: HST is deployed in space by shuttle Discovery flight STS-31.
- December 2, 1993: Endeavour flight STS-61 launches to perform the Servicing Mission 1 (SM1).
- February 11, 1997: Discovery flight STS-82 launches into space for Servicing Mission 2 (SM2).
- October 29, 1998: Discovery flight STS-95 tests technologies to be used in the next servicing missions.
- December 19, 1999: Discovery flight flight STS-103 launches into space for Servicing Mission 3A (SM3A).
- March 1, 2002: Columbia flight STS-109 launches into space for Servicing Mission 3B (SM3B).
- September 10, 2008: Target date for flight STS-125, the fifth and final Servicing Mission 4 (SM4).
- 2012-2013: End of Hubble Space Telescope operations and controlled de-orbit
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Hubble Space Telescope Comments on Backtype Powered by Backtype
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The Trinity and Hell…2 More Christian Myths
[...] write:“I’ll stick with the Hubble constant, 74 kilometers per second per [...] in 2009 by using the Hubble Space Telescope yielded a value of H0 [...] /Mpc obtained in 2001 also by Hubble. In August 2006, a less-precise [...] 1.6 (km/s)/Mpc if space is assumed to be flat, [...]thewordofme | http://thewordofme.wordpress.com/ Original | Permalink (November 23, 2009 12:02 AM) -
Light Echoes from V838 Mon
[...] -- supernovas and novas expel matter out into space. Although the V838 Mon flash appears to expel material into space, what is seen in the above image from the Hubble Space Telescope is actually an outwardly moving light echo of the bright flash. [...]Psalty7000 | http://www.reddit.com/ Original | Permalink (November 22, 2009 11:45 AM) -
APOD: 2009 November 22 - Light Echoes from V838 Mon
[...] -- supernovas and novas expel matter out into space. Although the V838 Mon flash appears to expel material into space, what is seen in the above image from the Hubble Space Telescope is actually an outwardly moving light echo of the bright flash. [...]boogerthecat | http://digg.com/ Original | Permalink (November 22, 2009 07:23 AM) -
AskReddit: I need a new wallpaper. What is yours?
Screenshot of the pictures' taken by the hubble telescope of deep space. Reminds me that I'm small, so my problems aren't that bad ;]dagny_as | http://www.reddit.com/ Original | Permalink (November 22, 2009 02:19 AM) -
Sirius Stargazing
[...] by the view through a telescope than those of the “space race” generation. Light pollution, not enough public interest in space and getting used to the awesome pictures from Hubble and robotic spaceships is probably at fault.Adrian Lopez | http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy Original | Permalink (November 20, 2009 11:35 PM)
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The Trinity and Hell…2 More Christian Myths
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Final journey to the Hubble Space Telescope - Media Newswire (press release): Final journey to the Hubbl.. http://bit.ly/6V41KY #space
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Final journey to the Hubble Space Telescope: Astronaut Mike Massimino returns to MIT and shares his experience .. http://bit.ly/8eVagk
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Final journey to the Hubble Space Telescope - Media Newswire (press release): Final journey to .. http://bit.ly/6V41KY #religion #news
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Final journey to the Hubble Space Telescope http://tinyurl.com/yeu4hqg
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Final journey to the Hubble Space Telescope - Media Newswire (press release) http://bit.ly/6V41KY
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