The Hubble Space Telescope or HST is a telescope which has captivated mans imagination of the heavens. The beauty of the universe has come into our lives thanks to the awesome pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope. Learn more about Hubble and learn the key Hubble Space Telescope facts in this post!
::: Why Is The Hubble Space Telescope Called Hubble? :::
This is a question that many people have, and want to know why it is called the Hubble Space Telescope. Well the Hubble name is not a scientific term! Though it is attributed with someone import in the field of science. And that is Edwin Hubble.
Edwin Hubble an American astronomer was a doctor who confirmed that the universe is indeed expanding. Edwin Hubble who was born 1889 and lived to 1953, is an important part of what has become the big bang theory. The big bang theory being that the universe started with literally a big bang (13.7 billion years ago), and expanded to what we have today.
::: Key Dates For The Hubble Space Telescope :::
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched on 24 April 1990. The cost was $1.5 billion US dollars, and required the help of hundreds of people to make it so.
Having launched the Hubble Space Telescope on the 24 of April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed the next day on April 25 1990. The designated amount of time for the mission was 20 years; which makes the Hubble Space Telescope to come to decommissioning about the year 2010.
The Hubble Space Telescope also has had some important servicing missions. Servicing mission 1 began on December 1993. The second servicing mission – servicing mission 2 began on February 1997. The third servicing mission – called Servicing mission 3A, began on December 1999. And the last servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope was on February 2002, and was called Servicing mission 3B.
::: The Dimensions Of The Hubble Space Telescope :::
The Hubble Space Telescope is quite a large instrument. With a length of 43.5 feet, and a diameter of 14 feet, it is near to the size of a school bus! The Hubble Space Telescope weighs 11,110 kg. Even though the Hubble Space Telescope has a weight of 11,110 kg, in space, it is light as a feather.
::: Some More Amazing Facts About The Hubble Space Telescope :::
The Hubble Space Telescope moves at a speed of 5 miles per second, around the Earth! It only takes the Hubble Space Telescope 97 minutes to make 1 revolution around the Earth. And the Hubble Space Telescope has a speed of 17,500 mph! Nothing on land and sea can approach those speeds, currently that we know of.
The Hubble Space Telescope can look at everything, within its limitations, but it can not view the Sun or Mercury which is close to the Sun.
The first image that the Hubble Space Telescope took a picture of, was a star cluster. On the 20th of May 1990, less than a month of being deployed, the Hubble Space Telescope took a picture of Star Cluster NGC 3532. The NGC 3532 star cluster got its nickname “The Wishing Well Cluster” because the twinkling stars in this Open Cluster resembles silver coins shimmering at the bottom of a Wishing Well.
The Hubble Space Telescope has given us so many beautiful pictures of the objects in our universe. With so many discoveries, it is a shame that the Hubble Space Telescope will be decommissioned over the next few years. However, NASA is planning on a new project that will surpass the Hubble Space Telescope, though this is one that will not be taking optical pictures.