By Lucy Kay
Staff Writer Space can be a funny place, but it can also be a little scary. We really don’t know what’s out there for sure. There are two possibilities and both are equally as frightening: we either have company in the universe, or we are totally alone. The Hubble, a telescope from NASA, could help us know what we are dealing with. 25 years ago, the Hubble was launched on April 23, 1990. Shortly after it left the ground, there was an issue. The pictures NASA was receiving were blurry. The mirrors inside the telescope were the wrong thickness and needed adjustment. In 1993, the first service install of hardware took place. After the mirrors were adjusted, the Hubble took magnificent photos of cosmic landscapes, multicolored clouds, and dazzling gem-like stars. This technological improvement has advanced the knowledge of the universe in many ways. Hubble has shown scientists how star clusters form in the universe. These pictures drastically improved the measurements of the age of space and how its not just the expanding, but spreading faster and faster. At this stage, the Hubble could have retired, having provided more than enough information, but there were more plans for this machine. In 2003, new advanced cameras were added and the photos became even more spectacular than ever before. Each year, NASA releases new pictures from Hubble to the public. Just think, the next time a space photo is published, it could be from one of Hubble’s cameras. |
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May 2016
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