Hubble’s Legacy

10/30/05 – 11/5/05

By C. Zaitz

It was spring of 1990. The Hubble Space Telescope, the giant space eye approved for funding in the 1960’s and built in the 70’s and 80’s, was finally set to launch despite being delayed by the Challenger shuttle disaster in 1986. The launch went smoothly and the Hubble was safely in orbit as earthling waited and wondered what strange and wonderful views would be forthcoming. It didn’t take long until the news trickled out, and it was bad news. The $2.5 billion dollar telescope was flawed. The Hubble’s vision was blurry.

As NASA quickly scraped egg from its face, scientists and engineers went into a frenzy trying to figure out what went wrong and who was to blame. The final analysis showed a measuring oversight by mirror builders Perkin-Elmer, with some fault lying at NASA’s feet for lack of oversight. Energy then turned toward fixing the problem. Within three years, the Hubble’s bad vision had been corrected, and the first glorious images began streaming from the mighty telescope. It didn’t take long to capture the public’s imagination, and now when we think of the Hubble, we think of the amazing pictures of dying stars and new stellar nurseries. The Eagle Nebula with its bubbles of newly forming solar systems now popularly known as “the pillars of creation” may well be the most famous image from the Hubble. 15 years later, the Hubble is still bombarding us with views of the Universe we have never before seen. It has peered to the edge of the observable universe, and showed us space littered with strange and far away galaxies at a much younger time in the universe. It has seen distant supernovae and from these images scientists have deduced that rather than slowing down, the expansion of the universe is actually speeding up. This notion has set cosmologists on their ears and has fueled new interest in cosmology.

The latest news is that our new NASA Administrator, Mike Griffin, has said that the servicing mission previously nixed by his predecessor Sean O’Keefe will be reexamined and that no final decision has been made as to the fate of the Hubble. Without a servicing mission, gravity will drag the giant eye back to earth, ripping it to shreds and incinerating it as it falls. Right now the Hubble is working with less than a full compliment of instruments that help it aim, but until a mission has been confirmed, scientists are trying to preserve and extend Hubble’s life. There are other telescopes in orbit and some planned for launch, but nothing that observes in the mostly optical wavelengths as Hubble does. Science will continue, but without the pretty pictures from the Hubble, it won’t be nearly as beautiful and awe-inspiring. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I need a little visual inspiration. Long live the Hubble! Check out this site for some very pretty pictures: http://hubblesite.org/gallery.

Meanwhile Mars couldn’t be prettier, and tonight (Sunday October 30th) is its closest approach for about 13 years. Look closely and you will notice its peachy color. Saturn shines away all morning in the south-eastern sky. Some of you may have noticed mighty Orion the Hunter in the wee hours of the morning. He’s making his way into the earlier part of the evening, and by winter he will be the “star” of the night sky.

Until next week, my friends, enjoy the view!