How the Hubble Space Telescope Was Repaired
In short: Following its 1990 launch, scientists discovered that Hubble's primary mirror suffered from a manufacturing flaw called spherical aberration, which caused images to appear blurry [src_02, src_09, src_10]. The error was traced to a 1.3 mm spacing mistake in the Reflective Null Corrector used during the mirror's production [src_02, src_03]. To fix this, NASA conducted Servicing Mission 1 (STS-61) in December 1993, where astronauts performed over 35 hours of spacewalks to install corrective optics [src_04, src_05]. This mission included the installation of COSTAR, which acted like a contact lens…
A 1:26 short film in the series “Space Frontiers”.
Sources used in this film: NASA, “The Hubble Space Telescope optical systems failure report”; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), “19920008654.pdf”; NASA, “STS-61 - NASA”; NASA, “hst-servicing-missions-fact-sheet.pdf”; National Air and Space Museum, “National Air and Space Museum”; National Aeronautics and Space Administration, “Hubble M100 Images Before and After Servicing Mission 1 - NASA Science”; NASA Science, “M100 WFPC1, WFPC2, WFC3 - NASA Science”; NASA Science, “Hubble's Deep Fields - NASA Science”; NASA, “Hubble's Deepest View of the Universe Unveils Bewildering Galaxies across Billions of Years - NASA”; NASA, “Hubble Space Telescope”.
Sources used in this film
- NASA — The Hubble Space Telescope optical systems failure report · View →
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) — 19920008654.pdf · View →
- NASA — STS-61 - NASA · View →
- NASA — hst-servicing-missions-fact-sheet.pdf · View →
- National Air and Space Museum — National Air and Space Museum · View →
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Hubble M100 Images Before and After Servicing Mission 1 - NASA Science · View →
- NASA Science — M100 WFPC1, WFPC2, WFC3 - NASA Science · View →
- NASA Science — Hubble's Deep Fields - NASA Science · View →
- NASA — Hubble's Deepest View of the Universe Unveils Bewildering Galaxies across Billions of Years - NASA · View →
- NASA — Hubble Space Telescope · View →
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: NASA: The Hubble Space Telescope optical systems failure report
- Also: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): 19920008654.pdf
- Also: NASA: STS-61 - NASA
- Also: NASA: hst-servicing-missions-fact-sheet.pdf
- Also: National Air and Space Museum: National Air and Space Museum
- Also: National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Hubble M100 Images Before and After Servicing Mission 1 - NASA Science
- Also: NASA Science: M100 WFPC1, WFPC2, WFC3 - NASA Science
- Also: Hubble's Deep Fields - NASA Science
- Also: NASA: Hubble's Deepest View of the Universe Unveils Bewildering Galaxies across Billions of Years - NASA
- Also: Hubble Space Telescope - NASA Science
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