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This is the Hubble Space Telescope...
It is a piece of engineering and astronomical majesty
that has captured some of the most astounding images of the cosmos.
"I could only say there was one word to describe these images and that's just absolutely incredible."
But Hubble's journey didn't start out that way...
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As Hubble was being planned and built engineers designed the
telescope to be worked on by astronauts in space.
It was equipped with handrails and its instruments were made to be easily removed and replaced.
NASA and astronomers wanted to upgrade Hubble throughout its life, they could install latest
technologies and repair parts that broke or became damaged while in space.
"Liftoff of the Space Shuttle Discovery with the Hubble Space Telescope!"
Soon after Hubble's launch and deployment in 1990,
that ability to fix Hubble became more critical than anyone had ever imagined.
when Hubble's first images reached Earth something seemed to not look quite right... literally.
"The conclusion we've come to from that is that there's a significant
spherical aberration appears to be present in the optics."
It was soon discovered that
Hubble's primary mirror was ground too flat and it caused the images to be out of focus.
Public apprehension soon began to rise and NASA's competency began to be called into question
"Okay the bottom line is do we have a fix for this? As I said the the biggest impact right now is the
loss of spatial resolution, the Wide Field Camera."
With the focusing issues of the primary mirror and
two of Hubble's gyroscopes failing, the need for this servicing mission was urgent.
"I know we're going to succeed at this and we're going to turn the Hubble Space Telescope in all regards into
the exciting scientific instrument that we expect it to be."
Seven astronauts who began training for this all-important first servicing mission were more than prepared to repair Hubble.
When December 2, 1993 finally came NASA was ready.
"And we have liftoff! Liftoff of the Space Shuttle Endeavour on an ambitious mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope!"
Successfully they navigated installing new solar arrays that would not expand and contract when
they went in and out of sunlight allowing Hubble to remain steady when taking photos.
They replaced failing gyroscopes and magnetometers enabling for
more accurate manipulation of the telescope's orientation.
Installed a Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 which had 48 color filters
covering a spectral range from ultraviolet to visible wavelengths
and housed extra mirrors to correct for the flaw in Hubble's main mirror.
And of course they adjusted the Hubble space telescope's vision with a Corrective Optics
Space Telescope Axial Replacement, or COSTAR, that acted almost like a pair of glasses
for the primary mirror, fixing the spherical aberration for the rest of Hubble's instruments.
After five days of intense repairs and maintenance the Hubble Space Telescope was back up and running.
[ HAPPY SCIENTIST NOISES ]
"...pictures are remarkable the science that will come from the pictures
are of historical significance..."
And now we are able to clearly see this:
"Eagle Nebula // 1995"
"Galaxy Cluster // 0024+1654 // 1996"
"Infrared Saturn // 1998"
"Whirlpool Galaxy // 2005"
The first servicing mission to Hubble restored the telescope's original expectations and
then so much more. Without it the Hubble Space Telescope, and NASA for that reason,
might not be where it is today over 30 years later.
"NGC 2174 // 2014"
"Jupiter // 2019"
Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope and the team behind Servicing Mission One
we can now behold these amazing astronomical encounters.
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