Hubble Sees Beyond Troubled Start

SCIENCE ARTICLE

25 Years Later, Hubble Sees Beyond Troubled Start

Dennis Overbye

BACKGROUND Lyman Spitzer Jr. (1914–1997), whose ideas inspired the creation of the SCAN FOR MULTIMEDIA Hubble Space Telescope, achieved great success as an astrophysicist. He studied space astronomy, star clusters, and the physics of stars. Not only did he propose the creation of a space telescope, he did so a decade before the first satellite had been launched.

1 gainst all odds, it’s 25 years in space and counting for the A Hubble Space Telescope this month.1 NOTES 2 Few icons of science have had such a perilous existence, surviving political storms, physical calamities, and the simple passage of time in the service of cosmic exploration. 3 In 1946, the astronomer Lyman Spitzer, Jr., had a dream. A telescope in space, above the unruly atmosphere, would be able to see stars unaffected by the turbulence that blurs them and makes them twinkle. It would be able to see ultraviolet and infrared emissions that are blocked by the atmosphere and thus invisible to astronomers on the ground. 4 It took more than three decades for the rest of the astronomical community, NASA, and Congress to buy into this dream, partly as a way to showcase the capabilities of the space shuttle, still in development then, and the ability of astronauts to work routinely in space. By the time the telescope was launched into space from the space shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990, it had been almost © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. or its affiliates. Inc., Education, © Pearson canceled at least twice and then delayed following the explosion of the shuttle Challenger in 1986.

1. this month This article was published in April 2015.

25 Years Later, Hubble Sees Beyond Troubled Start 511 512 MEANING: dismay helped youdeterminemeaning. another strategyyouusedthat Mark contextcluesorindicate NOTES

UNIT 5•INVENTION (diss MAY) n. 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 advance inastronomy sinceGalileo. were instantlyatthetopoftheirgame,hailingitasgreatest out oftheprimordial telescope’s keeneyediscernedswarmsofbabygalaxiescrawling patch ofskyknownastheHubbleUltraDeepFieldin2010, age, anditscosmicpostcards captivatedtheworld.Trained ona NASA couldstopholdingitsbreath. Hubble’s vision. main cameraandinstalledtinymirrors designedtocorrect the and Zengardener—rode totherescue. led byStoryMusgrave—astronaut, pilot,surgeon, spacewalker figure outawaytoprovide corrective lenses. universe, theHubbleneededglasses. with imageprocessing software. Butforthefainterpartsof working forNASA. the disbeliefandthendismayofengineerscontractors it wasahandfulofastronomers whofirstrecognized theflaw—to spherical aberration,thatanamateurastronomer mightmake,and with blurryvision.Itwasthekindofmistake,knownasa polished four-millionths ofaninchtooflat,leavingthetelescope was hurriedtosavemoney, thatbigmirror woundupmisshapen, cargo bay. eight-foot mirror, justsmallenoughtofitintothespaceshuttle its critics. laughingstock—a “technoturkey,” inthewords ofsome telescope couldn’tbefocused.Instead,withindaysitbecamea 3. 2. known astheEaglenebula. biblical-looking mountainsofgasanddustinastellar nursery the Hubblerecorded babystarsburningtheirwayoutof planet, Fomalhautb,orbitingitsstar. after theBigBang.

primordial space. to observe atelescope to use person Galileo And itmighthavebeenexceptforoneproblem: The And ittookoneofthefirstvisible-lightphotos adistant When theHubblewasfinallydeployed,NASA’s spinmasters The Hubblewasthefirstbig-dealtelescopeofInternet The rest oftheuniversesnapped intocrystallinefocus. And In fivetensedaysofspacewalks,theyreplaced thetelescope’s Three yearslater, thespaceshuttleEndeavourandarepair crew NASA scientistsshrugged off theirheartbreak andworkedto For brightobjects,astronomers couldcorrect fortheflaw But becauseofameasuringerror duringatestingprocess that Designed usingspysatellitetechnology, Hubblehadan In perhaps itsmosticonicimage,called“PillarsofCreation,”

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) was an Italian scientist and scholar who was the first first the was who scholar and scientist (1564–1642) Italian Galilei an was Galileo

ancient; from the beginning of time. of beginning the from ancient; adj. 3 darknessasearlyonly600millionyears 2

© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 green andbrown andisorientedtolooklikeaTurner landscape, astrophysics ratherthantheirnaturalcolors. colors lookgoodtotheeyeandbestshowoff theunderlying and oxygen.Thenthedifferent layersare assignedwhatever characteristic lightfrom different atoms,suchassulfur, hydrogen, camera records inblackandwhite,through filtersthatisolatethe 4. telescope. offered tosendtheirpenniesNASA tohelppayforthe they havesaid,‘Hey, thisisworthriskingmylife for.’” prepare themselvesfor, youknow, tryingtoburysomethingthat Dr. Grunsfeld recalled later. “ButIdon’tthinkanybodycouldever are notalotofthingsthat havereally shockedmeinmylife,” who wasthenNASA’s chiefscientist.“Beinganastronaut, there failed again. in orbitwithintwoorthree yearswhenitsbatteriesandgyros was toorisky. Without it,thetelescopewouldbedoomedtodie to bethefinalHubbleservicingmissionongrounds thatit space shuttledreams. all sevenastronauts onboard. ThatharkenedtheendofNASA’s when theColumbiaspaceshuttledisintegratedin2003,killing in space. performing theequivalentofeyesurgery andcomputerrepairs dream of,fiddlingwithits innards, replacing circuit boards and how todothingsthetelescope’sdesignershadneverdared wearing theequivalentofboxinggloveshavegraduallylearned thanks totheefforts ofastronaut servicingcrews. Astronauts win thesobriquet“HubbleRepairman”forhisfeats. and nowNASA’s associateadministratorforscience,whowould to thetelescopebyJohnM.Grunsfeld, anastronaut, astronomer, replace thegyros. Thatwasthefirstofwhatwould bethree trips Hubble wentinto“safemode.” A crew washastilydispatchedto the sixgyroscopes thatkeepthetelescopepointedfailed,and while thenaturalemissionsfrom thenebulaare shades ofred.

use of color. of Turner use his for famed landscape. J.M.W Turner artist an was “Pillars ofCreation,” forexample,ispresented inearth tonesof These postcards were notwithoutcontroversy.TheHubble’s Mr. O’Keefe’sdecisionignited anationaloutcry.Schoolchildren The decisionwasannouncedanddefendedbyDr. Grunsfeld, The agency’sadministrator, SeanO’Keefe,canceledwhatwas The Hubblewashittingitsstride,gettingbetterandbetter, The telescopehasbeenreborn againandovertheyears, Technological hiccupshavealsocontinued.In1999,fourof 25 Years Later, Hubble SeesBeyondTroubled Start 4

vuhr see) MEANING: controversy helped youdeterminemeaning. another strategyyouusedthat Mark contextcluesorindicate NOTES MEANING: outcry helped youdeterminemeaning. another strategyyouusedthat Mark contextcluesorindicate ((OWT kry) ((OWT n. (KON truh n.

513 514 NOTES

UNIT 5•INVENTION 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 weeklong symposium on theothersideofcosmos. stupendous supernovaexplosionmore thanninebillionyearsago which theycouldviewmultiplereruns ofastarthatdiedin had seenasortofcosmicmirageknownasanEinsteinring,in universe—but barely understand. continues todelivernewsaboutthisthingweare allpartof—a the telescopehasceasedtotouchhumanity. Onthecontrary, it shuttle Atlantisprepared toletitgoagain.Butthatdoesnotmean He wasthelasthumantotouchtelescope,pattingitas servicing mission. resigned, andhissuccessor, MichaelGriffin, reinstated a to keeptheteamsofengineerstogether. Intheend,Mr. O’Keefe Academy ofSciencespanel,butithadservedasaplaceholder the Hubble,perhaps bysendingrobots toworkon it. astronomers andNASA engineerswere workingonwaystosave 5. still asbigtheskyandourignoranceofwhatliesbehindit. Dr. Grunsfeld said. is already planninga30th-anniversary celebrationin2020, is somethingfewwouldhaveimagined10yearsago,yetNASA Telescope, duetobelaunchedin2018.TheHubble’slongevity the universewithitsdesignatedsuccessor, theJamesWebb Space dreamed, andithasagood chanceoflivinglongenoughtoshare of peopledoingscience.” about NASA,”Dr. Grunsfeld said,“butmuchofitis acelebration Science Instituteisbased.

symposium After aquarter-century, thetelescope’s future andpromise are NASA ismakingabigdealoftheHubbleanniversary, witha Earlier thisspring,astronomers announcedthattheHubble In 2009,Dr. Grunsfeld ledonelastmissiontotheHubble. The robotic approach waseventuallyrejected byaNational Behind thescenes,however, Dr. Grunsfeld andother The Hubbletodayismore powerfulthanitsdesignersever “This isacelebrationpartlyaboutthetelescopeand

conference where experts discuss a certain topic. acertain discuss experts where conference n. 5 inBaltimore, where theSpaceTelescope

❧