This photograph shows engineers inspecting the Hubble Space Telescope's primary mirror at the Perkin-Elmer Corporation's large optics fabrication facility. After the 8-foot diameter mirror was ground to shape and polished, the glass surface was coated with a reflective layer of aluminum and a protective layer of magnesium fluoride, 0.1- and 0.025-micrometers thick, respectively.
The purpose of Hubble, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of Earth's atmosphere.
The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the observatory, and the Perkin-Elmer Corporation in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors.
Date Created: 1981-01-01
Tags: Hubble Hubble Space Telescope Space Telescope Hubble (Primary Mirror) Space Telescope NASA Primary Mirror
This photograph shows the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) flight article assembly with multilayer insulation, high-gain antenna, and solar arrays in a clean room of the Lockheed Missile and Space Company.
Hubble was the first of NASA's great observatories and the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made. The purpose of Hubble is to study the cosmos from a low Earth orbit by placing the telescope in space, enabling astronomers to collect data that is free of Earth's atmosphere. Hubble was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990.
The Marshall Space Flight Center had overall responsibility for design, development, and construction of the observatory. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation in Danbury, Connecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company, Sunnyvale, California, produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.
Date Created: 1986-01-01
Tags: HST Hubble Space Telescope NASA Hubble Space Telescope
This photograph shows the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) being assembled in the clean room of the Lockheed Missile Space Company. The Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) is being readied for the installation of the AFT shroud. The OTA contains two mirrors, a primary and a secondary, to collect and focus light from selected celestial objects.
Hubble is the first of NASA's great observatories and the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made. The purpose of Hubble is to study the cosmos from a low Earth orbit by placing the telescope in space, enabling astronomers to collect data that is free of Earth's atmosphere. Hubble was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990.
The Marshall Space Flight Center had overall responsibility for design, development, and construction of the observatory. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation in Danbury, Connecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company, Sunnyvale, California, produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.
Date Created: 1985-01-01
Tags: Space Telescope NASA Hubble Space Telescope Hubble assembly
A 1981 schematic of the Hubble Space Telescope
Tags: HST Hubble Space Telescope
This illustration shows the Hubble Space Telescope's major configuration elements. The spacecraft has three interacting systems: the Support System Module (SSM), an outer structure that houses the other systems and provides services such as power, communication, and control; the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), which collects and concentrates the incoming light in the focal plane for use by the Scientific Instruments (SI); and five SIs. The SI Control and Data Handling (CDH) unit controls the five SIs, four that are housed in an aft section focal plane structure and one that is placed along the circumference of the spacecraft.
The purpose of Hubble, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of Earth's atmosphere. Hubble detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than is visible from ground-based telescopes, extending our view more than 13 billion light-years away. Hubble views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, planet formation in other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes.
The Marshall Space Flight Center was responsible for the design, development, and construction of the observatory. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation in Danbury, Connecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California, produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.
Date Created: 1980-01-01
Tags: Hubble Hubble Space Telescope configuration NASA space telescope