Final publication 1

7/30/2019 Final publication 1

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TheHubbleSpace Telescope

1917

1993

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001

Contents

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

1923 - 1993


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Edwin Hubble1917


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Edwin Hubble

1917

Eight years ago, the frontiers of theuniverse seemed to extend only a few

thousand light-years beyond our solarsystem. We knew that our sun was anordinary star, drifting with its entourageof planets through a vast galaxy of stars,but many astonomers thought our milkyway galaxy might be a lone island withnothing but blackness beyond itr borders.

Here and there we saw what appeared tobe other swirling collections of stars, butno one had accurately measured theirdistances.

Then our perceptions of the universechanged dramatically, thanks largely tothe efforts of American astronomer EdwinPowell Hubble (1889 - 1953). Hubble hadat his disposal Californias Mount Wilson.His first great breakthrough, in 1924, wasto measure the distance to a spectacularspiral-shaped collection of stars in theconstellation Andromena, establishing itas a large galaxy lying far beyond the out-skirts of our own. Suddenly the Milky Wayno longer seemed so lonely

Many more galaxies like andromenawere out there, waiting to have their dis-tances measured. Over the course of thenext few years, Hubbles observationsshowed that the distances of galaxies arereleated to their speeds in a very specialway: the father a galaxy is, the faster it ismoving away from us. All the galaxies inthe universe were once much closer to-gether, and in the distant future they willbe much farther apart. In other words theentire cosmos is expanding.

Equipped withhis five senses,man explores theuniverse aroundhim and callsthe adventureScience

Edwin Hubble

1919Mt. Wilson Observatory


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1917

Edwin Hubble

The implications of Hubbles discoveryastounded the world. These galaxiescould not have been drifting apart forever.Tracing their motions back through historyshows that they must all have started ontheir journey at a particular moment intime, in an event we have come to call theBig Bang. Hubbles discovery therefore

gives us a way to measure the age of theuniverse. By measuring the distances andmotions of galaxies, we can determinehow long they hve been flying apart andthus date the moment of creation.

Edwin Hubbles work opened the doorto our modern understanding of the uni-verse as an expanding realm within whicha constantly evolving story of creation isstill playing itself out. However, the short-comings of Hubbles own measurementsprevented him from accurately age-datingthe universe. A telescope with much finervision than any existing ground basedtelescope was needed. the telescope thatfinally completed his quest was named inhis honour.

Mt. Wilson ObservatoryLos AngelesCaliforniaUnited Staes


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The Concept is Born1923


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The idea for the space telescope arosein 1923, when German scientistHermann Oberth, one of the found-ers of rocketry, suggested blasting atelescope into space aboard a rocket.In 1946, Lyman Spitzer Jr., an Americanastrophysicist, wrote a paper proposing

a space observatory. He would spend thenext 50 years working to make the spacetelescope a reality.

Spitzer was one of the main forcesbehind several of the orbiting obser-vatories of the time, including theCopernicus satellite and the OrbitingAstronomical Observatory. His diligentadvocacy helped spur NASA to approvethe Large Space Telescope project in1969. Because of budget considerations,the original proposal was downsizedsomewhat, decreasing the size of thetelescopes mirror and the number ofinstruments it would carry.

In 1974, the group working on theproject suggested a telescope with anumber of interchangeable instru-ments. They would be able to resolveat least one-tenth of an arcsecond, andstudy wavelengths that ranged fromultraviolet to visible and infrared light.

The Space Shuttle would be used to putthe telescope in orbit and either returnit to Earth for repairs and replacementinstruments, or service it in space.

007

1923

The Concept is Born

Hermann Oberth

1894 - 1989GermanPhysicist / Engineer


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LST is Approved1977


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LST is Approved

Spitzer gathered the support of otherastronomers for a large orbitaltelescope and addressed the concerns ofits critics. In 1969, the National Academyof Sciences gave its approval for the LargeSpace Telescope (LST) project, and thehearings and feasibility studies continued.

After Armstrongs giant leap formankind on the moon in 1969, funding

for NASA space programs began todwindle, putting the LST program injeopardy. LST planners had to design thetelescope under budget constraints. Anumber of downsizing measures wereweighed and considered: decrease thesize of the primary mirror, the numberof scientific instruments, the diameterof the Systems Support Module and thenumber of spare parts created and testsperformed. In 1974, the LST ScienceWorking Group recommended the spacetelescope carry a large complement ofinterchangeable instruments. They wouldhave specifications to resolve at leastone-tenth of an arcsecond, and have awavelength range from ultraviolet throughvisible to infrared light.

009

1977

Lyman Spitzer1944

Neil ArmstrongApollo 11Moon LandingDec, 1972


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Production begins1979


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011

1979

Production begins

Once the Space Telescope project hadbeen given the go-ahead, work onthe program was divided among manyinstitutions.

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)was given responsibility for the design,development, and construction of thetelescope, while theGoddard Space FlightCenter was given overall control of thescientific instruments and ground-controlcenter for the mission. MSFC commis-sioned the optics company Perkin-Elmerto design and build the Optical TelescopeAssembly (OTA) and Fine Guidance Sen-sors for the space telescope. Lockheedwas commissioned to construct thespacecraft in which the telescope wouldbe housed.

Perkin-Elmer was commissioned tobuild the optical components of the Hub-ble Space Telescope. The construction ofthe main mirror was begun in 1979 andpolishing completed in 1981 in DanburyConnectic.

STIS

NASA1996

Primary MirrorLockheed MartinCalifornia1981 - 1985


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Challanger Disaster1986


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Challanger Disaster

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1986

The Space Shuttle Challenger disasteroccurred on January 28, 1986, whenSpace Shuttle Challenger (missionSTS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds intoits flight, leading to the deaths of itsseven crew members. The spacecraftdisintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, offthe coast of central Florida at 11:38 EST(16:38 UTC). Disintegration of the entirevehicle began after an O-ring seal in itsright solid rocket booster (SRB) failedat liftoff. The O-ring failure caused abreach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowingpressurized hot gas from within thesolid rocket motor to reach the outsideand impinge upon the adjacent SRBattachment hardware and external fueltank. This led to the separation of the

right-hand SRBs aft attachment and thestructural failure of the external tank.Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up theorbiter.

The crew compartment and many othervehicle fragments were eventually recov-ered from the ocean floor after a lengthysearch and recovery operation. Althoughthe exact timing of the d eath of the crewis unknown, several crew members areknown to have survived the initial breakupof the spacecraft. However, the shuttlehad no escape system and the impact ofthe crew compartment with the oceansurface was too violent to be survivable.

Challanger LaunchJan, 1986Florida


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Spherical Aberration1990


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Spherical Aberration

Acommission headed by Lew Allen,director of the Jet PropulsionLaboratory, was established to determinehow the error could have arisen. The AllenCommission found that the main nullcorrector, a testing device used to achievea properly shaped non-spherical mirror,had been incorrectly assembledone lenswas wrongly spaced by 1.3 mm. Duringthe initial grinding and polishing of themirror, Perkin-Elmer analyzed its surfacewith two conventional null correctors.However, for the final manufacturing step(figuring), they switched to a custom-built null corrector, designed explicitlyto meet very strict tolerances. Ironically,this device was mis-assembled, resultingin an extremely precise (but wrong)shape for the mirror. There was one finalopportunity to catch the error, sincea few of the final tests needed to useconventional null correctors for varioustechnical reasons. These tests correctlyindicated spherical aberration. However,the company ignored these results, as itbelieved they were less accurate than theprimary device which reported that themirror was perfectly figured.

017

1990

Intended ShapeActual Shape

Melnick 34Hubble telescope1990


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COSTAR1993


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1993

The Universe isunfolding as itshould

Edwin Powell Hubble

November 20, 1889 September 28, 1953

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Thanks to all who helped build the hubble spacetelescope bringing the universe closer to earth

Final publication 1

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