April 24, 1990. The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched in the space in his bunker with what will become the most legendary space telescope Hubble. The telescope is then released from the arm and is directed to itself by using its solar collectors. Discovery returns to the ground, with a confident crew. The operation went as planned. However, two months later, it’s amazement at NASA. The first images sent to Earth by the Hubble are blurred. Error calculations of NASA , made during the tests, resulted in a spherical aberration on the mirrors of the system. Hubble is blinded and must be treated.
The first vital mission well done …
As the only telescope for which maintenance is carried into space by astronauts, a rescue mission is launched in 1993. On December 2, Discovery takes off. Two days later, the Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier manages to capture the telescope using the remote arm of the space shuttle and bring it into the cargo bay of the shuttle to start the maintenance work that will last 5 days. A month later, the rescue mission is advertised as fulfilled when Hubble sends this time clear images of black holes and falling debris from the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter.
… then next four missions, all performed as well
– In 1997 Hubble repair experiencing its second phase. Its spectrograph is replaced by another more specific, capable of examining celestial objects with extreme finesse. A new infrared camera also adds to the telescope.
– In 1999 , NASA has yet to come to the aid of Hubble. Four of the six gyroscopes responsible for guiding the telescope fail, forcing a third intervention since Hubble astronauts can not operate with less than 3 gyroscopes in working order. The mission of STS-103 rescue will prove accomplished.
– In 2002 , the installation of the instrument of ACS third generation ( Advanced Camera for Surveys ) instead FOC ( Faint Object Camera ) will multiply the telescope performance.
– Finally, in May 2009 is the final Hubble servicing mission. This mission (STS-125) is carried by the space shuttle after the approval of the NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. The upgrade is to install two new science instruments: the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and the third Wide Field Camera (WFC-3). The mission will eventually lasted 13 days.
Hubble observes
Hubble deserves to celebrate the birthday of a quarter of a century of remarkable discoveries (planets, stars, galaxies, black holes …), shared with the Earthlings with fascinating capture images … all this despite significant technical blunders of the telescope. It completes one revolution of our planet every 96 minutes, and traveled to date about 5 billion kilometers in the Universe. He observed a white cloud settled near Saturn’s equator, the sudden collision of galaxies, or how a star dies. With its extraordinary journey, Hubble delivers essential information about our destiny. When the Sun will disappear, first become a red giant, multiplying its diameter by 100, turning the furnace Land before projecting a gas wall certainly destroy the entire solar system. There will be our star a great spot, sort of fried egg with strange colors and visible to millions of light years.
His successor, James Webb, 100 times more potent
This is the end inevitable and expected in 5 billion years. Hubble will not be there to witness the collapse of our beloved planet. Just as his successor James Webb, whose launch is planned for 2018. The engineers hope to make James Webb telescope 100 times more powerful than Hubble, capable of seeing 70% more light. “ The Webb (…) may be up to at least 300 million years after the Big Bang (which gave birth to our universe there is 13.8 billion years ago), when all first stars and galaxies appeared “, told AFP Mark Clampin, one of the astronomers of the telescope. More advanced, more solid, more expensive ($ 8.8 billion against 2.5 Hubble), it remains to know if James Webb may take as long as its predecessor. Or more …
VIDEO ARCHIVE: Hubble celebrates 20 years
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