HUBBLE HISTORY
The astronauts of Servicing Mission 4 are preparing for a final trip to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. With its state-of-the-art technology, Hubble has captured the deepest and most comprehensive images of the universe. This final mission will ensure the full functionality of the telescope, which has given so much to science, well into the next decade.
HUBBLE DISCOVERIES
- The Hubble is responsible for helping scientists figure out the age of our universe: between 13 and 14 billion years.
- Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) is its most powerful, able to conduct broad surveys of the universe. It broke down in 2007, and part of SM4’s mission is to attempt to repair it.
- By photographing supernovas, Hubble aided scientists in discovering ‘dark energy.’ A mysterious, but constant, force in the universe, dark energy pushes galaxies away from each other, accelerating the expansion of the universe and working in opposition to gravity.
- Outside our solar system, scientists have discovered other planets, called extrasolar planets. Using Hubble’s technology, they were able to measure the chemical makeup of an extarsolar planet the size of Jupiter.
- Planetary nebulae are gas clouds which are formed by dying stars. Hubble has helped scientists to confirm that these nebulae are like snowflakes, in that no two are exactly alike.
SPACE CENTERS
- The Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center stands 525 feet tall—over 200 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.
- Contained in the Vehicle Assembly Building is a mobile launcher platform, on which space shuttles are transported to launch pads. Alone, the platform weighs 9.25 million pounds. Once a shuttle and all necessary launching materials are in place, the platform is referred to as “stacked,” and it weighs over 12 million pounds.
- Astronaut training takes place at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Its Neutral Buoyancy Lab, which holds 6.2 million gallons of water, is one of the largest indoor pools in the world. It is here where the astronauts learn their spacewalking skills.
ABOUT THE HUBBLE
- Hubble was launched in 1990 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS-31.
- Since the launch of the telescope, there have been several missions sent to repair and upgrade it. It is planned that SM4 will be the last.
- The Hubble telescope moves at a speed of about five miles per second. At this speed, a trip from New York City to Los Angeles would take only 10 minutes. Hubble completes one full orbit of Earth every 97 minutes.
- Hubble’s orbit is 353 miles above the surface of the Earth, well beyond the distortion-causing atmosphere. This is why the images it gathers are so clear and detailed.
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