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| Hubble Space Telescope in space |
The Hubble Space Telescope’s 25 years in operation has been marked by the publication of the NASA Hubble Space Telescope Owners’ Workshop Manual by Dr David Baker (Haynes Publ. £22.99).
1. The HST is named after US astronomer Edwin P. Hubble (1889-1953) who was the first to confirm that the universe is expanding.
2. The HST is 43.5ft long, 14ft wide (at its widest point) and weighs over 10 tons.
3. The HST orbits the earth every 97 minutes: 61 minutes in sunlight and 36 in darkness.
4. It is powered by two 24ft solar panels.
5. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a hubbleshow is a tumult, commotion or uproar.
6. This is also known as a hubble-shubble, not to be confused with a hubble-bubble, which is a form or oriental hookah in which smoke bubbles through water in a coconut shell.
7. The primary mirror of the HST is nearly 8ft in diameter and was ground to an accuracy of 1/800,000 of an inch.
8. The HST takes photos in black and white but the use of filters allows colours to be added later.
9. The first pictures from the HST in 1990 were fuzzy, but this was corrected by astronauts in 1993.
10. Technology developed for the HST is now being used to improve the detection of breast cancer.
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