The Hubble Space Telescope

1917

1993

Contents

1923 - 1993
Edwin Hubble
001

Concept is born
003

LST is approved
005

Production begins
007

Challenger Disaster
007

The Launch
007

Spherical aberration
007

COSTAR approved.
007

001

Edwin Hubble

1917

Edwin Hubble

Edwin Hubble 1919 Mt. Wilson Observatory

Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science

ight years ago, the frontiers of the universe seemed to extend only a few thousand light-years beyond our solar system. We knew that our sun was an ordinary star, drifting with its entourage of planets through a vast galaxy of stars, but many astonomers thought our milky way galaxy might be a lone island with nothing but blackness beyond itr borders. Here and there we saw what appeared to be other swirling collections of stars, but no one had accurately measured their distances. Then our perceptions of the universe changed dramatically, thanks largely to the efforts of American astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble (1889 - 1953). Hubble had at his disposal Californias Mount Wilson. His first great breakthrough, in 1924, was to measure the distance to a spectacular spiral-shaped collection of stars in the constellation Andromena, establishing it as a large galaxy lying far beyond the outskirts of our own. Suddenly the Milky Way no longer seemed so lonely Many more galaxies like andromena were out there, waiting to have their distances measured. Over the course of the next few years, Hubbles observations showed that the distances of galaxies are releated to their speeds in a very special way: the father a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away from us. All the galaxies in the universe were once much closer together, and in the distant future they will be much farther apart. In other words the entire cosmos is expanding.

1917 003

Edwin Hubble

Mt. Wilson Observatory Los Angeles California United Staes

he implications of Hubbles discovery astounded the world. These galaxies could not have been drifting apart forever. Tracing their motions back through history shows that they must all have started on their journey at a particular moment in time, in an event we have come to call the Big Bang. Hubbles discovery therefore gives us a way to measure the age of the universe. By measuring the distances and motions of galaxies, we can determine how long they hve been flying apart and thus date the moment of creation. Edwin Hubbles work opened the door to our modern understanding of the universe as an expanding realm within which a constantly evolving story of creation is still playing itself out. However, the shortcomings of Hubbles own measurements prevented him from accurately age-dating the universe. A telescope with much finer vision than any existing ground based telescope was needed. the telescope that finally completed his quest was named in his honour.

1917 005

The Concept is Born

1923

The Concept is Born

Hermann Oberth 1894 - 1989 German Physicist / Engineer

he idea for the space telescope arose in 1923, when German scientist Hermann Oberth, one of the founders of rocketry, suggested blasting a telescope into space aboard a rocket. In 1946, Lyman Spitzer Jr., an American astrophysicist, wrote a paper proposing a space observatory. He would spend the next 50 years working to make the space telescope a reality. Spitzer was one of the main forces behind several of the orbiting observatories of the time, including the Copernicus satellite and the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory. His diligent advocacy helped spur NASA to approve the Large Space Telescope project in 1969. Because of budget considerations, the original proposal was downsized somewhat, decreasing the size of the telescopes mirror and the number of instruments it would carry. In 1974, the group working on the project suggested a telescope with a number of interchangeable instruments. They would be able to resolve at least one-tenth of an arcsecond, and study wavelengths that ranged from ultraviolet to visible and infrared light. The Space Shuttle would be used to put the telescope in orbit and either return it to Earth for repairs and replacement instruments, or service it in space.

1923 007

LST is Approved

1977

LST is Approved

Neil Armstrong Apollo 11 Moon Landing Dec, 1972

pitzer gathered the support of other astronomers for a large orbital telescope and addressed the concerns of its critics. In 1969, the National Academy of Sciences gave its approval for the Large Space Telescope (LST) project, and the hearings and feasibility studies continued. After Armstrongs giant leap for mankind on the moon in 1969, funding for NASA space programs began to dwindle, putting the LST program in jeopardy. LST planners had to design the telescope under budget constraints. A number of downsizing measures were weighed and considered: decrease the size of the primary mirror, the number of scientific instruments, the diameter of the Systems Support Module and the number of spare parts created and tests performed. In 1974, the LST Science Working Group recommended the space telescope carry a large complement of interchangeable instruments. They would have specifications to resolve at least one-tenth of an arcsecond, and have a wavelength range from ultraviolet through visible to infrared light.

1977

Lyman Spitzer 1944

009

Production begins

1979

Production begins

nce the Space Telescope project had been given the go-ahead, work on the program was divided among many institutions. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) was given responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the telescope, while theGoddard Space Flight Center was given overall control of the scientific instruments and ground-control center for the mission. MSFC commissioned the optics company Perkin-Elmer to design and build the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) and Fine Guidance Sensors for the space telescope. Lockheed was commissioned to construct the spacecraft in which the telescope would be housed. Perkin-Elmer was commissioned to build the optical components of the Hubble Space Telescope. The construction of the main mirror was begun in 1979 and polishing completed in 1981 in Danbury Connectic.

1979

STIS NASA 1996

Primary Mirror Lockheed Martin California 1981 - 1985

011

Challanger Disaster

1986

Challanger Disaster

T
Challanger Launch Jan, 1986 Florida

he Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger (mission STS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida at 11:38 EST (16:38 UTC). Disintegration of the entire vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRBs aft attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up the orbiter. The crew compartment and many other vehicle fragments were eventually recovered from the ocean floor after a lengthy search and recovery operation. Although the exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown, several crew members are known to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft. However, the shuttle had no escape system and the impact of the crew compartment with the ocean surface was too violent to be survivable.

1986 013

The Launch

1990

Hubble Launch STS - 31 Florida 1990

015

Spherical Aberration

1990

Spherical Aberration

Melnick 34 Hubble telescope 1990

Intended Shape Actual Shape

commission headed by Lew Allen, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was established to determine how the error could have arisen. The Allen Commission found that the main null corrector, a testing device used to achieve a properly shaped non-spherical mirror, had been incorrectly assembledone lens was wrongly spaced by 1.3 mm. During the initial grinding and polishing of the mirror, Perkin-Elmer analyzed its surface with two conventional null correctors. However, for the final manufacturing step (figuring), they switched to a custombuilt null corrector, designed explicitly to meet very strict tolerances. Ironically, this device was mis-assembled, resulting in an extremely precise (but wrong) shape for the mirror. There was one final opportunity to catch the error, since a few of the final tests needed to use conventional null correctors for various technical reasons. These tests correctly indicated spherical aberration. However, the company ignored these results, as it believed they were less accurate than the primary device which reported that the mirror was perfectly figured.

1990 017

COSTAR

1993

COSTAR

COSTAR module National Air and Space Museum Washington DC

COSTAR Vector Interior

ecause of the way the HSTs instruments were designed, two different sets of correctors were required. The design of the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, already planned to replace the existing WF/PC, included relay mirrors to direct light onto the eight separate CCD chips making up its two cameras. An inverse error built into their surfaces could completely cancel the aberration of the primary. However, the other instruments lacked any intermediate surfaces that could be figured in this way, and so required an external correction device.[64] The Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) system was designed to correct the spherical aberration for light focused at the FOC, FOS, and GHRS. It consists of two mirrors in the light path with one ground to correct the aberration.[65] To fit the COSTAR system onto the telescope, one of the other instruments had to be removed, and astronomers selected the High Speed Photometer to be sacrificed.[64] By 2002, all of the original instruments requiring COSTAR had been replaced by instruments with their own corrective optics. [66] COSTAR was removed and returned to Earth in 2009 where it is exhibited at the National Air and Space Museum.

1993 019

The Universe is unfolding as it should

Edwin Powell Hubble November 20, 1889 September 28, 1953

1993 021

Thanks to all who helped build the hubble space telescope bringing the universe closer to earth.