![]() Right: Image from WF/PC showing the blurred image of a star that should haveĪfter initial on-orbit activation and checkout of the telescope’s systems, it was time for the much-anticipated “first light” images. Left and middle: STS-31 astronauts McCandless and Sullivan suiting up for an EVA. Right: Release of the Hubble Space Telescope during Left: Crew of STS-31 (left to right) Bolden, Hawley, Shriver, McCandless and Sullivan. ![]() The initial checkout did not require such a rescue. For the next three days, the Shuttle remained in a station-keeping position 50 miles from Hubble in case any problems during activation required them to return to the telescope for any possible repairs or to return it to Earth. ![]() As it turns out, their skills were not needed, and because they were in the Shuttle’s airlock, were probably the only two interested parties who did not see the release of the Hubble Space Telescope. McCandless and Sullivan had donned their spacesuits in preparation to conduct an Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) or spacewalk in case anything went wrong with the deployment. Once in orbit, Hawley grappled Hubble with the Shuttle’s robotic arm, carefully lifted it out of the payload bay and after ensuring that the telescope’s two solar arrays and antennas had properly deployed, released it to fly free. Bolden, and Mission Specialists Bruce McCandless, Steven A. The crew for the mission included Commander Loren J. Tucked inside the payload bay of Space Shuttle Discovery, the 24,000-pound telescope carried five science instruments – the Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WF/PC), the Faint Object Camera (FOC), the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS), the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS), and the High-Speed Photometer (HSP). The Shuttle flew to an unusually high 380-mile orbit to ensure that Hubble would operate above as much of the Earth’s atmosphere as possible. The launch of the Hubble Space Telescope took place on April 24, 1990, during the STS-31 mission. Middle: Engineers working on the primary mirror for Hubble. Left: Early construction of the frame of the Hubble Space Telescope. The Challenger accident in January 1986 placed all Shuttle flights on hold and delayed the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope to April 1990. Hubble and set the launch for October 1986. The same year, NASA renamed the LST after astronomer Edwin P. In 1983, managers abandoned the original plan to use the Space Shuttle to return the telescope to Earth for refurbishment and relaunch in favor of in-orbit maintenance and upgrades by astronauts during spacewalks in the Shuttle’s payload bay. With an expected on-orbit lifetime of 15 years, the LST’s instruments would make observations primarily in the visible and ultraviolet parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Right: Cutaway of the LST/Hubble showing its major components.Īs envisioned, the LST would contain a 94-inch (2.4-meter) diameter primary mirror and use the Space Shuttle, then still under development, for launch in 1983. Middle: OAO-3 Copernicus satellite undergoing ![]() NASA first proposed a plan to launch a Large Space Telescope (LST) in 1972 and five years later Congress approved the funding. The final OAO mission, called Copernicus, carried a 32-inch (80-cm) telescope that made ultraviolet observations between 19. NASA launched four Orbiting Astronomical Observatories (OAO) between 19, of which only two were successful. National Academy of Sciences recommended development of Earth-orbital telescopes. Spitzer continued to lobby for a space telescope and in 1962, the U.S. Although others had floated the idea of orbital telescopes, Spitzer’s paper entitled “ Astronomical advantages of an extra-terrestrial observatory” described in detail the scientific advantages of placing a telescope in space, 11 years before the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite. The first concrete plan for placing an optical telescope in space, above the obscuring and distorting effects of the Earth’s atmosphere, originated with Princeton University astronomer Lyman S. “Trying to do stellar observations from Earth is like trying to do birdwatching from the bottom of a lake.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |