The Hubble Space Telescope

Bradley Bean
4/27/2015

The Hubble Space Telescope

Launched on April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope just recently
passed 25 years in space. If you have ever seen a stunning deep-space
photograph, or a stunning image of multiple galaxies, or for that matter
pretty much any famous image that NASA has released over these past 25
years, odds are that it was taken by one of the cameras on the Hubble
telescope. Covered in this research paper are the history, makeup, function,
historical significance, and possible futures for the worlds most famous
telescope.
Named after Edwin Hubble, an astronomer who had discovered
multiple galaxies, deep space exploration was always a main goal for the
telescope. The problem with peering into deep space from earth, even from
the most powerful telescopes in the most expensive and advanced
observatories is that we have always had to look through the atmosphere,
leading to light pollution, atmospheric distortion and blur, thus the idea was
formed to put a telescope above the atmosphere that would not run into
these problems. Atmospheric distortion and blur is the same effect that
causes us to perceive the stars twinkling on a clear night, for us that is not a
big problem, however it makes it very difficult to get a clear image,
especially when peering far, far away. Hubble solved this atmospheric
problem (HST, 2014).
A satellite as large as Hubble could only be made possible because of
NASAs Space Shuttle program, with the Hubble Space Telescope weighing in
at around 12 tons and approximately the size of a school bus, it was not light

cargo (Wilson, 2015). The primary mirror of the telescope is nearly 8 feet
across, and made of ground glass, as are the best camera lenses in the world
(Wilson, 2015) (The Telescope, 2012). The supports and frame of Hubble is
made of graphite epoxy, an extremely durable, but lightweight material
commonly used in professional grade golf clubs, an expensive option, but to
imagine that the telescope could have weighed even more (The Telescope,
2012). An array of solar panels provide the power necessary for the
telescope to function, allowing Hubble to function for long periods of time
without the need to change batteries or perform maintenance frequently
(The Telescope, 2012). A few visits to the telescope have been made to swap
out the cameras with updated technologies, and add a few updated parts, all
in all about 3000 pounds of equipment has been added, so Hubble currently
checks in at 27,000 pounds, having gained weight over time (Wilson, 2015).
The Hubble telescope is run jointly by ESA, the European Space
Agency, and NASA (Sutherland, 2015). These two space agencies control the
telescopes 6 scientific sensors (The Telescope, 2012). The telescope has 3
cameras, with varying purposes, one for close range viewing such as in the
solar system, a telephoto designed for deep space viewing and another
multipurpose camera that is a little wider. The other 3 sensors allow Hubble
to see not just visible light, but also sense and monitor Infrared light and UV
radiation and light (HST, 2014).
Hubble is the first optical telescope to be put into space (Wilson, 2015),
and has great historic significance, not just because of the many discoveries

that it has made, but those definitely count greatly to it. The telescope has
given us image after image that had never been seen before. With Hubble
we have seen galaxies up close, we have seen back to galaxies that are 13.4
billion light years away, just after the universe began expanding, we have
stared into a seeming dark spot in space, and received an image with
hundreds of galaxies. The Hubble really has helped expand our idea of the
size and scope of the universe. To date over 13,000 scientific papers have
been published based on data gathered from the Hubble Telescope
(Sutherland, 2015).
The current issue regarding the Hubble Space Telescope has to do with
its future. It was last serviced in 2009 and current estimates state that it will
continue to function properly for 5-6 years without servicing, the problem
being that with NASA retiring the space shuttle program, servicing the
telescope is currently impossible. The James Webb Space Telescope, the
eventual replacement for Hubble is scheduled to launch in 2018, but the idea
was that they could run simultaneously for a while, but if a problem
develops, that may not occur. The future of the Hubble telescope is also
under consideration, as Hubble is in a very slow downward orbit, getting
closer to the Earth every year, with current estimates having it enter the
atmosphere anywhere between 2025 and 2040. It is possible to guide it to
an atmospheric entry and splashdown into the Pacific Ocean when that time
comes, and that may be what occurs, if only because, without the space
shuttle, there is no spacecraft from any country with the capacity to retrieve

the Hubble. This is an issue that will come more and more into view as the
time passes (Sutherland, 2015).
The Hubble Space Telescope has been a priceless resource for
discovery and universal understanding ever since its launch and continues to
be so today, 25 years later, as effective as ever. Though its future is
unknown, it will go down as one of the most important inventions in helping
us understand and try to take in the scope of the universe while stunning us
with its beautiful imagery.

References:
Hubble Space Telescope (2014) About Hubble: The Mission. Retrieved April
2015. Actual URL: http://www.spacetelescope.org/about/
Sutherland, Paul (2015) Whats Next for the Hubble Telescope?. Retrieved
April 2015. Actual URL:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0427/What-s-next-for-theHubble-telescope-video
The Telescope (2012) Nuts and Bolts: Spacecraft Systems, Instruments,
Optics. Retrieved April 2015. Actual URL:
http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/nuts_.and._bolts/

Wilson, Jim (Page Editor) (2015). About the Hubble Space Telescope.
Retrieved April 2015. Actual URL:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html