The Collaborative International Dictionary
Hubble Telescope \Hub"ble Tel"e*scope\, Hubble Space Telescope \Hub"ble Space Tel"e*scope\, n. A large astromical optical telescope placed into orbit around the earth, from which, in the absence of absorption and distortion by the earth's atmosphere, clear high-resolution images of astronomical objects can be obtained in the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet wavelengths. The telescope was launched into orbit on April 24, 1990. Since then the telescope has taken thousands of images, many of them unique, recording never before seen astronomical phenomena. Service missions were performed in 1993 and 1997, during which astronauts upgraded or replaced equipment on the telescope.
Wikipedia
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, and remains in operation. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, and is one of NASA's Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
With a mirror, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared spectra. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images, with substantially lower background light than ground-based telescopes. Hubble has recorded some of the most detailed visible light images ever, allowing a deep view into space and time. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.
The HST was built by the United States space agency NASA, with contributions from the European Space Agency. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) selects Hubble's targets and processes the resulting data, while the Goddard Space Flight Center controls the spacecraft.
Space telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. Hubble was funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and the Challenger disaster (1986). When finally launched in 1990, Hubble's main mirror was found to have been ground incorrectly, compromising the telescope's capabilities. The optics were corrected to their intended quality by a servicing mission in 1993.
Hubble is the only telescope designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. After launch by in 1990, four subsequent Space Shuttle missions repaired, upgraded, and replaced systems on the telescope. A fifth mission was canceled on safety grounds following the Columbia disaster (2003). However, after spirited public discussion, NASA administrator Mike Griffin approved one final servicing mission, completed in 2009. The telescope is operating , and could last until 2030–2040. Its scientific successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is scheduled for launch in 2018.
Usage examples of "hubble space telescope".
The in-space fix of the Hubble Space Telescope was a spectacular success.
Even a very powerful ground-based telescope will produce a fuzzy image, which is why the Hubble Space Telescope is in orbit round the Earth.
The Voyager images of to can be compared with much poorer images taken by ground-based telescopes 50 years earlier, and by the Hubble Space Telescope 13 years later.
Time on the Hubble Space Telescope was somewhat more precious than gold in the astronomical community.
Too bad the supersensitive instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope would be struck blind if it looked so close to the moon.
From photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope it appears that, in 1849, eta Carinae underwent an explosion that nearly tore it apart.
With a hundred times the area of the much earlier Hubble Space Telescope, the Big Eyes could see dim objects a hundred times fainter.
A joint venture of CIA and the Pentagon, NRO ran the reconsats, the big camera birds circling the earth at low-medium altitude, looking down with their hugely expensive cameras that rivaled the precision and expense of the Hubble space telescope.
A Hubble space telescope image of Titan in the near-infrared shows clouds roughly configured to make a world-sized smiling face.
If one could imagine the whole set, stretching out beyond this monitor, it was already larger than the Cosmos that even the Hubble Space Telescope had yet revealed.