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    The Hubble Space Telescope: A Universe of New Discovery
    The Hubble Space Telescope: A Universe of New Discovery
    The Hubble Space Telescope: A Universe of New Discovery
    Ebook215 pages2 hours

    The Hubble Space Telescope: A Universe of New Discovery

    By The Associated Press

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    About this ebook

    On April 24, 1990, after years of planning and delays, the Space Shuttle Discovery lifted the Hubble Space Telescope into an orbit 350 miles above Earth. During the next 25 years, Hubble opened a new and unimaginably beautiful universe for mankind. AP was there. Many of the resulting AP articles are included in this book, providing a unique look at the Hubble 25-year story through the eyes of Associated Press reporting and stunning photography.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAP Editions
    Release dateMar 30, 2015
    ISBN9781633530478
    The Hubble Space Telescope: A Universe of New Discovery

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      Book preview

      The Hubble Space Telescope - The Associated Press

      (002) AP9511010796

      Publisher’s Note

      AP Editions brings together stories and photographs by the professional journalists of The Associated Press.

      These stories are presented in their original form and are intended to provide a snapshot of history as the moments occurred.

      We hope you enjoy these selections from the front lines of newsgathering.

      Hubble actually allows our human minds and spirits to travel light-years, even billions of light-years.

      –Ed Weiler, NASA Sciences Chief

      Table of Contents

      Publisher’s Note

      Overview

      Introduction

      The New Universe

      1990 Launch

      Nearsighted Hubble

      Hubble Servicing Missions

      Five Key Discoveries

      Another Earth

      Our Solar System

      Deep Space

      The Future

      Credits

      Overview

      On April 24, 1990, after years of planning and delays, the Space Shuttle Discovery lifted the Hubble Space Telescope into an orbit 350 miles above Earth.

      During the next 25 years, the power of Hubble revealed a new, breathtaking universe to the world and The Associated Press was along for the journey.

      This celestial ambassador to the stars doesn’t just illustrate the story of the universe, but has a tale of its own, complete with the highs and lows of such an ambitious endeavor.

      The staff of The Associated Press has covered the telescope from before its launch to the present day. Many of its most historic moments are recorded here and provide a unique view on Hubble's saga.

      Introduction

      The New Universe

      From Cosmic Joke to Cherished Eye in Space

      January 28, 2013

      By Seth Borenstein

      (002) AP9511010796

      This photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows dark pillar-like structures, also know as The Pillars of Creation, that are actually columns of cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust that are also incubators of new stars in the Eagle Nebula. The color image is constructed from three separate images taken in the light from different types of atoms. Red shows emission from sulfur atoms, green from hydrogen, and blue from oxygen, April 1, 1995. (AP Photo/NASA)

      Using the power of pictures, the Hubble Space Telescope has snapped away at the mystery of the universe.

      For 19 years, Hubble has shown the epic violence of crashing galaxies, spied on the birth and death of stars, taught cosmic lessons, and even provided comic relief.

      In Hubble’s photos, believers witness the hand of God, nonbelievers see astronomy in action, and artists discover galaxies worthy of galleries.

      Now, Hubble is set to get its fifth and final fix-up. If all goes as planned, space shuttle Atlantis will lift off Monday (January 28, 2013), on a flight to the orbiting telescope 350 miles above Earth. In five painstaking spacewalks, astronauts will repair and replace broken instruments, add a new long-gazing camera, and then say goodbye forever to Hubble. If it all works, Hubble will get another five to seven years of life, before it is remote-control steered into a watery grave.

      Hubble doesn’t just illustrate the story of the universe. It has its own story, complete with failure and redemption.

      Senior Hubble scientist Mario Livio rhapsodized about the drama of Hubble’s own story, turning something that could have been the biggest scientific fiasco to the biggest scientific success.

      After its launch into space in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was stuck with blurry vision because its mirror wasn’t quite right. It was the butt of jokes by late night comics; an editorial cartoon said its designer was Mr. Magoo, a nearsighted cartoon character. It seemed like a massively over-budget screw-up.

      But once it was fixed three-and-a-half years later with a new set of glasses, Hubble shed its myopic reputation. It began producing far-sighted images of space that seemed more art than astronomy.

      Hubble helped pinpoint the age of the universe at 13.7 billion years, explain what’s in it, and show where it is going. Its photos hinted that as a planet, Earth may not be alone. Just one picture of warped distant galaxies provided visual proof of Einstein’s general relativity theory.

      Hubble actually allows our human minds and spirits to travel light-years, even billions of light-years, said NASA sciences chief Ed Weiler. The photo Hubble Ultra Deep Field views a time when the universe was about 700 million years old, so the stars in it are 13 billion light-years away. One light-year is 5.9 trillion miles.

      A new camera to be installed in this flight should enable astronomers to look an extra 200 million light-years farther back, said Hubble chief scientist David Leckrone. He said if everything goes well with the repair mission, Hubble will be at its sharpest ever.

      (003) AP090424043421

      This image shows what space agency scientists call the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. In this composite image, the Hubble Space Telescope looks the farthest we can into the universe, capturing light from 13 billion years ago when the universe was only 700 million years old, 2004. (AP Photo/NASA, File)

      It was a Hubble image in 1995 that forever restored the telescope’s tarnished early reputation. The picture was Eagle Nebula. It was stunning, with beautiful colors and dramatic clouds where stars formed. NASA called it the pillars of creation.

      And the public, which once snickered at Hubble, now was smitten.

      Hubble has snapped 570,000 pictures, and while some catch the birth of stars and planets, others capture the other end of life — death and violence on a cosmic scale.

      We have 20 gorgeous images of stars like our sun dying, said Hubble astronomer Frank Summers. They are just amazing. It boggles the mind to think that stars that are so similar can die in such different ways.

      (004) AP03051005023

      This coil-shaped Helix Nebula, also know as the Eye of God Nebula, is one of the largest and most detailed celestial images ever made. The composite picture is a seamless blend of ultra-sharp images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope combined with the wide view of the Mosaic Camera on the National Science Foundation's 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. The image shows a fine web of filamentary bicycle-spoke features embedded in the colorful red and blue ring of gas. At 650 light-years away, the Helix is one of the nearest planetary nebulae to Earth. A planetary nebula is the glowing gas around a dying, Sun-like star, May 9, 2003. (AP Photo/NASA)

      When age finally caught up with Hubble — it was designed to last 10 to 15 years — NASA first decided the telescope would just have to slowly die. An astronaut repair mission was deemed too risky during the time period shortly after the 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster, which claimed seven astronauts. But ultimately, public opinion and politicians persuaded NASA to change its mind. Sentiment and the promise of more stunning images beat out calculations of risk and cost.

      It has truly become an icon of American life, said Weiler, the public face of Hubble since its launch.

      While the public loves Hubble from afar, those who know it up close find it has a personality.

      It’s almost impossible not to start feeling like Hubble is a living being, said astronaut John Grunsfeld who has repaired the telescope twice already and is slated to get under Hubble’s hood a third time. "It’s just another satellite, but once you’ve worked in the program and are smitten with it, it is very easy to start adding personality to Hubble.

      I do feel like ... I’m going to visit an old friend that I haven’t seen in a long time that will be a little bit weathered, a little bit older, Grunsfeld said in a news conference last fall. NASA hasn’t visited Hubble for seven years and is expecting many signs of wear and tear, including holes from space junk.

      The telescope has been anything but cheap. NASA thought it could build Hubble for $300 million, but it actually cost more than five times that. With all the fixes and upgrades and decades of use, the total cost will be close to $10 billion by the time it dies, but no one is complaining about that price tag, Weiler said.

      Astronomer Livio said certain pictures remind him of abstract paintings. The colors — added in once they reach the ground because the cameras only shoot black-and-white — can be garish. But then so is the universe.

      This is art on a grand scale, astronomer Summers said.

      1

      1990 Launch

      'A Lot of Hopes' Riding with Hubble

      April 7, 1990

      By Marcia Dunn

      (005) AP9004240231

      The Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery lifts off from Launch Pad 398 in Kennedy Space Center at morning carrying a crew of five and the Hubble Space Telescope, April 24, 1990. (AP Photo/Paul Kizzle)

      After seven years of frustrating delay, the Hubble Space Telescope is finally tucked away aboard the shuttle Discovery, ready to embark on its mission to scour the outermost depths of space.

      The $1.5 billion observatory represents an astronomical advance of astronomical proportions - the greatest, in fact, since the first use of a telescope by Galileo in 1609.

      ''We know a lot now, we think. Perhaps we don't know anything. Perhaps we'll learn that,'' said astronaut-astronomer Steven A. Hawley, part of the five-member crew that is set to launch Discovery on Tuesday (April 10, 1990).

      Among the mysteries that Hubble might help explain are quasars, pulsars and black holes, as well as the precise origin of the universe and the possible existence of other solar systems and life forms.

      But the telescope's most extraordinary find during its 15-year odyssey likely will be one not yet envisioned, said Eric Chaisson, senior scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

      ''The history of science has shown the greatest discoveries are those the human imagination has not even conceived,'' he said. ''We are going to demand that the Hubble look into regions of total darkness, to look where nobody has ever looked, hoping by design to discover the unexpected.''

      From its perch 380 miles high, the Hubble will be free of atmospheric distortion and therefore able to detect light of all wavelengths, including ultraviolet. The telescope will be capable of discerning objects 50 times fainter and with 10 times greater clarity than the best observatory on Earth.

      Astronomers expect to study stars and galaxies so distant their light has been

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