Hubble Space Telescope Marks 15 Years of Service
Posted on: Thursday, 28 April 2005, 15:00 CDT
The Hubble Space Telescope on Monday celebrates 15 years of service as astronomy's most renowned and beloved instrument.
"Hubble has been arguably the greatest telescope of all time," says astronomer Steve Maran, author of "Astronomy for Dummies."
The anniversary comes amid renewed hopes for the survival of Hubble, which has fans among scientists, legislators and amateur skywatchers. Without new batteries and stabilizing gyroscopes, the craft will fail after 2007, engineers predict. But NASA's new chief, Michael Griffin, says he will reconsider a shuttle rescue mission that earlier had been ruled too risky.
NASA's space shuttle Discovery set Hubble into orbit on April 25, 1990. Astronauts corrected a flaw in the telescope's main mirror in 1992. Later shuttle missions increased the scope's capabilities.
As a result, Hubble has made major discoveries in every area of astronomy, generating the data for the authors of more than 4,700 technical papers since 1991.
"The amazing thing about Hubble is that it is a frontline scientific instrument that grows stronger every year," says astronomer Bruce Margon of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which manages Hubble for NASA.
"Hubble's lasting legacy will not be based on astronomical facts, but in the way it has opened up science to the public," Margon says.
Source: Tulsa World
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