The Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope is a large telescope in space. It was launched by NASA with contribution from ESA in 1990. Hubble is the length of a large school bus. It weighs as much as two adult elephants. Hubble travels around Earth at about 5 miles per second. Hubble faces toward space. It takes pictures of planets, stars and galaxies. Hubble has seen the birth and death of stars. It has seen galaxies that are billions of light years away. Hubble has also seen comet pieces crash into the atmosphere above Jupiter.

Hubble Space Telescope in orbit

1. Name the American astronomer after whom Hubble Space Telescope was named.

Ans: Edwin Powell Hubble.

2. In 1923, German scientist Hermann Oberth first suggested that a telescope could be launched into orbit to help overcome the distortions caused by the atmosphere. As rocket launchings became more commonplace, the idea became feasible, and in 1969, approval was given for the launch of a Large Space Telescope. But its development took longer than preparing for a trip to the moon.

3. Who operates the HST?

Ans: Space Telescope Science Institute.

4. Hubble transmits about 120 gigabytes of science data every week. That would be roughly 3,600 feet of books on a shelf. The collection of pictures and data is stored on magneto-optical disks.

STS 31 Launch

5. Which space shuttle launched HST into the earth orbit in 1990?

Ans: Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31). 

6. The HST is 43.5 ft in length which weight 11,110 kg and has maximum diameter of 14 ft. Hubble has been serviced five times. Astronauts had to replace batteries and directional gyroscopes, among other fix-it projects. Its final servicing mission took place in 2009.

7. Name the picture that shows the farthest galaxies ever seen in HST?

Ans: Hubble Ultra Deep Field.

The Pillars of Creation within the Eagle Nebula

8. Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-125) carried out the fifth and last (till now) servicing mission to HST in 11 May, 2009. Space Shuttle Atlantis carried two new instruments to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Wide Field Camera 3. The mission also replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor, six gyroscopes, and two battery unit modules to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014.

9. Name the nebula from which an image was released in 20^th anniversary HST in space?

Ans: Carina Nebula (~6500-10000 light years).

Carina Nebula

10. Hubble pictures start out as shades of black and white. Colors are then added to the pictures. Colors can help show how an object might look to the human eye. Colors can also be used to point out an important detail in the picture. Or they can help to show details that the human eye wouldn't see.

11. In our solar system only two planets are not observed by Hubble. Name them.

Ans: Earth and Mercury.

12. In 2001, NASA polled internet users to find out what they would most like Hubble to observe; they overwhelmingly selected the Horsehead Nebula.

The Sun from Hubble

13. Name the energy source of Hubble.

Ans: The Sun.

14. Hubble completes one orbit around the Earth (crossing over the same longitude line) every 96 minutes. Its speed is approximately 8 km per second (5 miles per second). On August 11, 2008 the Hubble Space Telescope completed its 100,000th orbit.

JWST primary mirror as compared to HST's

15. Name the astronomers who are responsible for photographs of "Pillars of Creation" by using HST.

Ans: Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen.

16. HST is expected to continue to function until 2014. NASA plans to replace it with the James Webb Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2018.