Hubble Telescope Down, Source of Key Space Data Could Be Lost
Published June 25, 2006
The world's eye in the sky since April, 1990 has been NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. On Monday, June 19, 2006, Hubble's main camera stopped working. It could be a software problem. It could be a power supply problem. It could have been caused by a "cosmic event."
You realize, of course, that if there were aliens and they were planning to sneak out on us, they would take out the Hubble via a cosmic event. Good thing I don't believe in aliens.
The Hubble is a mainstay of our exploration into space. It was the Hubble that saw the Pluto moons just named as Nix and Hydra. Hubble has seen amazing things, among them:
Blue stars orbiting rapidly around a black hole:
Saturn's auroras behaving differently than we had believed for the last 25 years:
A disk galaxy tilted on edge:
A baby galaxy:
And two galaxies merging:
It would be a shame to lose the source of such knowledge. Scientists are working on it, but thus far it remains blind in the dark of space.
Get well soon, Hubble.
- Hubble Telescope Down, Source of Key Space Data Could Be Lost
- Published: June 25, 2006
- Type: News
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Space
- Writer: Justene Adamec
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Comments on this articleComments
Nice article.
I hope they do choose to repair the Hubble, rather than let it become rusty space junk - as proposed by NASA in 2005. The uproar created over the decision ensured we will be blessed with more beautiful pictures and exciting discoveries for years to come.
I would hope the issue of Hubble's main camera malfunction would be important enough to schedule a repair into the July 1st Shuttle mission ... but I wont hold my breath.
Hope they get it back online soon though.
"I hope they do choose to repair the Hubble, rather than let it become rusty space junk"
It won't rust, in an oxygen-deprived environment... ;-)
Thank goodness they've decided to keep Hubble going! Love the pictures of Saturn's auroras.
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I believe NASA is working on a mission in the near future to repair (once again...) the Hubble Space Telescope.
Also, there is a Space Shuttle launch scheduled for July 1st...mark your calendars!
Me, I'll be watching it take off, live, from my front porch... ;-P