The space shuttle Atlantis lifted off today on its way to repair the ailing Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble has made magnificent contributions to the field of astronomy over the last 19 years, and NASA has said this will be the last upgrade they plan to perform on the telescope.
The STS 125 Hubble Mission Overview
http://hubble.nasa.gov/missions/sm4.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro-RBcqvGpg
Here's a couple of great videos from NASA:
50 Years of Exploration:
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVjQphXkHow&feature=related
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM8BbKQ74HU&feature=related
I hope they can fix it.
Me too. The Hubble has been one of the most successful science programs of our time, and has taken some of the most breath taking images of the universe.
Here's a link from the HST web page: http://hubblesite.org/servicing_mission_4/
Success! The Hubble Space Telescope has been repaired and is anticipated to regain full functioinality. The Space Shuttle Atlantis relaunched to telescope and both are doing well. Here's a link:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-10244487-239.html
Can't wait to see the images from the new cameras. ;D
This may be old news to some, but hopefully it's new news to most. :) Hubble made the first confirmed visible light picture of a planet orbiting another star in November of 2008. The star is Fomalhuat, one of the brightest stars in the southern sky, about 25 light years away. It's a very young star with a very young planetary system, and when Hubble's cameras are fully operational again it will be the subject of further study.
(http://www.pacificparanormal.com/forums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2288.0;attach=800)
Here's a link to the NASA press release:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/39/text/
More information about Fomalhaut:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomalhaut
That is really cool Brian that they got a photo of the planet. And Fomalhaut is a star you can see with naked eye.
Wow. Simply amazing!
Quote from: PPI Brian M on May 19, 2009, 05:02:45 PM
Success! The Hubble Space Telescope has been repaired and is anticipated to regain full functioinality. The Space Shuttle Atlantis relaunched to telescope and both are doing well. Here's a link:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-10244487-239.html
Can't wait to see the images from the new cameras. ;D
I watched the whole thing on c-span, I was up late. :-[ But the whole mission was very interesting to watch.