HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

Hubble Space Telescope

Kayley Glauser, Michael Saenz, Isaiah Beh
Physics 1010-010
Salt Lake Community College

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Abstract

The thought of having a space telescope was a long going thing well be the
construction of the Hubble Space Telescope started. For over 40 years it was all
discussion and then in 1969 NASA approved the construction of the idea. Just a few
years after NASA announced its construction the Congress approved the funding.
They named it after Edwin Hubble because of his discovers about the universe. After
its launch in 1990 it underwent some difficulties. Because of these difficulties
Corrective Optic Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) was in progress.
This COSTAR was very significant because without this replacement all the photos
the Telescope would take would be fuzzy and blurry. The Telescope was built with
intention to be modified and was expected to need changes over time. The orbit it
based around the Physics principle that the telescope wants to fly straight out into
outer space but the gravitational pull of the earth is pulling on it towards the earth
causing its orbit around the earth. The Hubble Space Telescope has made many
different impacts on sciences. One being that we narrowed the estimate age of the
Universe from ten to twenty billion years old to 13-14 billion years old, meaning
that we now have a much more accurate calculation of the age. Its most significant
finding is that space is accelerating in its expansion and not slowing down like we
once believed. Scientist may still be unsure what is actually happening with the
expansion of space but they named this expansion dark energy.

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Introduction
The Hubble Telescope is a telescope that orbits earth and constantly
monitors what is going on in outer space such as, other planets, galaxies, stars and
much more. It was originally launched into space in 1990, which means it has been
operating in orbit for over twenty years. This very expensive instrument has won
Nobel Prizes and has been recognized as a modern marvel. Through this paper we
will go through the history of the telescope, details of the construction, the physics,
and how the telescope has influenced different sciences. This leads into
understanding the history and the beginning of the Hubble Telescope.
History
The project of the telescope started long before the actual launch in 1990.
The first talk of a telescope going into space was in 1923. Although this telescope
did not happen it did inspire others to pursue the idea. In 1969 NASA approved the
construction of a large telescope. A few years later in 1977 the congress approved
the funding for what we know as the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope was
named after Edwin Hubble who was an Astronomer pointed out in the night sky that
the little fuzzy dots were actually distant galaxies and also proved that the universe
was expanding. After a few years of delay the telescope launched in 1990 aboard a
space shuttle. Within just a short time there was a problem in orbit. The photos
were coming out blurry not like the high-resolution photos that were discussed in
designing the telescope. This leads into the design and construction of the telescope.

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Construction of the Hubble Telescope

The Hubble telescope experienced many changes, as it was being built and
perfected over time. It was designed with updates in mind. The telescope is
essentially divided into different sections that are like canisters.
The front is the door (or aperture) and light shield that protects the sensitive
mirror and instruments from the bright light from the sun or earthshine. Next is the
forward shell that holds the optical telescope assembly and mirrors. Then there is
the section of equipment that carries most of the subsystems. Then, at the rear end
of the HST is what is called the aft shroud that covers the scientific instruments
and Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS). The solar panels and communication antennas
are attached to the side of the telescope. In some pictures you can even see the
handrails that the astronauts use when they repair and maintain the giant telescope.
The construction of the Hubble space telescope took many years to
complete. There were many institutions that were in charge of different
programs. There was Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) who was given the
responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the
telescope. Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) who is in charge of overall control of
the scientific instruments and ground-control center for the HST mission. MSFC
assign Perkin-Elmer to design and build the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) and
the Fine Guidance Sensors for the space telescope. Lockheed was assigned to
construct and integrate the spacecraft where the telescope would live.

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The Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA)

[Figure 1, beginning the cut of the mirror (OTA)]

(Figure 2, polishing process of the OTA)

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Perkin-Elmers initial design of the OTA consisted of two hyperbolic

mirrors. This method is also used for cameras. This design is known for good
imaging performance over a wide field of view. These mirrors, once made for the
HST, would be very difficult to test and would ultimately lead to failure. Failure was
a very easy thing to happen because the measurements of these mirrors had to be
almost 100% accurate. The mirrors polish had to have an accuracy of ten
nanometers in order to be successful, which is very small considering that DNA is
about two and a half nanometers.
Construction of the Perkin-Elmer mirror began in 1979 starting with ultralow expansion glass. To keep the weight of the mirror down the glass consisted of
inch-thick tip and bottom plates sandwiching a honeycomb lattice. Perkin-Elmer
used 130 rods that exerted varying amounts of force to support the mirror to insure
the final shape would be correct.
Polishing of the mirror continued until May 1981, and the end of 1981 finally
completed the mirror. It took 2,400 gallons of hot deionized water to wash the
mirror. Then the mirror received a 65 nm-thick reflective aluminum
coating. Finally the mirror received its last protective coating of magnesium
fluoride that was 25 mm thick.
The telescope in general was way behind schedule. Perkin-Elmers timeline
continually was being pushed back. NASA was forced to postpone the launch date

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until September 1986. By the time the mirrors were completed the total project
budget had risen to $1.175 Billion.
Spacecraft Systems

(Figure 3, housing the scientific instruments)

Engineering the spacecraft where the telescope and scientific instruments
were to be housed was a major challenge. So many factors were to be considered
when drawing up designs such as; weather, frequent passages from direct sunlight
into the darkness of Earths shadow, stability in order to allow extremely accurate
pointing of the telescope. In order to handle these challenges Lockheed and his
team had to anticipate everything.
A multi-layer insulation was placed within the spacecraft to stabilize the
temperature inside. Surrounding is a light aluminum shell where the instruments

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sit. Within this shell is a graphite-epoxy frame to keep the working parts of the
telescope from moving. They had to take into consideration that graphite
composites are hygroscopic, and there was a risk that water vapor absorbed by the
truss. So they applied a nitrogen gas purge used before launching to prevent this.
While the construction of the spacecraft systems went smoother than the mirrors
Lockheed still went over schedule and budget. By the summer of 1985, construction
of the spacecraft was 30% over budget and three months behind schedule.
Initial Instruments

(Figure 4, assembled telescope)

The Hubble telescope has five scientific instruments.
The Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC)
Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS)
Faint Object Camera (FOC)

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Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS)

High Speed Photometer (HSP)
The Wide Field and Planetary Camera

(Figure 5, WF/PC assembly)

The WF/PC is a high-resolution imaging device primarily used for
observations. It was built by NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and involved 48
filters isolating spectral lines of any interest. It has 8 charge-coupled device (CCD)
chips that divide between two cameras, each using for CCDs. Each CCD has a
resolution of 0.64 megapixels. The wide field (WF) camera covers a large angular
field without great resolution, but the planetary camera (PC) takes images at a
longer focal length giving the photo greater magnification.

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Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS)

(Figure 6, GHRS)
This is a spectrograph is designed to be used in ultraviolet. It was build by the
Goddard Space Flight Center and has a spectral resolution of 90,000.
Faint Object Camera (FOC) and Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS)
These both were also optimized for ultraviolet observations and were
capable of the highest spatial resolution out of any of the Hubble
instruments. These instruments used photon-counting dig icons as their
detectors. The FOC was made by ESA, while University of California, and Martin
Marietta Corporation made the FOS.
High Speed Photometer (HSP)
The HSP was built and designed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It
was used for optimizing visible and ultraviolet light of variable stars and other
objects in brightness. It could take up to 100,000 measurements per second with a
photometric accuracy of about two percent or better.
These 3 main parts of the HST were now designed and built and it was time

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to put these products to the test. Within one week of the launch of the telescope, the
images that were returned to Earth had issues with the optical system. Although the
first images appeared to be sharper than the images that were taken of groundbased telescoped, the Hubble was failing to achieve a final sharp focus and the best
image quality was a lot lower than expected.
After analyzing potential issues scientist found that the mirror that took so
long, and so much money to build was completely flawed. The difference of 10
nanometers and the perimeter being flat about 2,200 nanometers. This difference
was catastrophic and introduced severe spherical aberration, which is when
increased refraction of light rays strikes a lens near the edge.
Flawed Mirrors
This issue was blamed on lack of anticipation and mathematical error of
Perkin-Elmer. Director of the Jet Propulsion, Lew Allen analyzed these mistakes and
established that the errors occurred in the main null corrector (used during testing)
was incorrectly assembled; one lens was out of position by 1.3mm. At this point
NASA and the HST was the butt of many jokes in the scientific community and was
not regarded as a serious change in history.
Fixing the Mirrors
In order to design a solution to this problem many things had to be taken into
consideration. Although the Hubble was designed to undergo modifications
replacing these mirrors in space was impossible, and it was impossibly expensive

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and time consuming to bring the HST back to earth. Since the shape of the mirror
was wrong, new designs of optical components were being discovered so NASA
could keep these very expensive mirrors. The Corrective Optic Space Telescope
Axial Replacement (COSTAR) was developed to correct these issues. It was to be
sent on the next service mission in 1993.
Service Missions
Mission 1
After the problems with HST mirrors were discovered the first service
mission became more important. The astronauts learned how to do extensive work
to install these corrective spectacles. In December 1993, seven astronauts flew
aboard the Endeavor to install several instruments over a ten-day mission.
New instruments installed included; New High Speed Photometer, COSTAR,
WF/PC with WF/PC 2, the solar arrays and drive electronics were replaced, four
gyroscopes in the telescope pointing system, two electrical control units and other
electrical components, two magnetometers, onboard computers were upgraded, and
Hubbles orbit was boosted.
When the Endeavor arrived home safely on January 13,1994 the trip was a
success. The first shaper images were taken and this was considered to be the most
complex and important trips for NASA.
Mission 2

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(Figure 7, before and after images after replacement parts and SM 2)

Service Mission 2 was flown by the Discovery in February 1997. During this
mission new instruments were replaced and updated including:
GHRS and the FOS with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS)
Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS)
Replaced an Engineering and Science Tape Recorder with a new Solid State
Recorder
Repaired thermal insulation.
Mission 3A
Service Mission 3A was also flown by the Discovery in December 1999 and
was split-off from Service Mission 3 after three of six on board gyroscope failed. A
fourth failed a few weeks before the mission rendering the telescope incapable of
performing observations.
This mission replaced:
6 gyroscopes
Fine Guidance Sensor and the computer
Installed a Voltage/temperature Improvement Kit (VIK)
Replaced thermal insulation blankets

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The new computer that was installed was 20X faster, with six times more
memory. It increased throughput by moving some of the tasks from the ground to
the spacecraft and saved money by allowing the use of programming languages.
Mission 3B:
Service Mission 3B was flown by the Columbia in March 2002.
New instruments installed included:
Replaced the FOC by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) [This now meant
that COSTAR was no longer needed]
Revived NICMOS
Replaced solar arrays for the second time (providing 30% more power)
Mission 4:
Service Mission 4 was canceled by OKeefe In January 2004, due to public
outcry and requests from Congress for NASA to look for a way to save it. The
National Academy of Science convened an official panel, which recommended in July
2004 the HST should be preserved despite the apparent risks.
Physics of the Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope or HST was launched into a Low Earth Orbit or LEO
aboard the Discovery space shuttle. The Orbital Vehicle Designation for Discovery is:
OV-103, meaning it is the third, series one Orbital Vehicle. The shuttles that
proceeded and paved the way for Discovery were Colombia and Challenger.
Rockwell International, located in Downey, California, built the Discovery. Rockwell

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Internationals Space Transportation Systems Division was awarded the contract to

build the Discovery. Construction the Discovery began in January 1979 and was
completed in August of 1983. The construction cost 2 Billion dollars in 1979s
money, 6.1 billion in todays money. The Discovery weighed 151,149 pounds empty.
Its External Tank (ET) weighed 78,100 pounds empty and its two solid rocket
boosters weighed 185,000 pounds empty each. Each solid rocket booster held 1.1
million pounds of fuel. The external tank held 143,000 gallons of liquid oxygen (1,
359,000 pounds) and 383,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen (226,000 pounds). The
fuel weighed almost twenty times more than the Shuttle. At launch, the Shuttle,
external tank, solid rocket boosters and all the fuel combined had a total weight of
4.4 million pounds. The Discovery could also carry a 53,600-pound payload.
Discoverys first flight was on August 30, 1984; mission STS-41-D (NASAs
forty first mission to space). On this mission the Discovery and crew were tasked
with delivering three communication satellites to a LEO. Upon landing on
September 5, 1984 Discoverys first mission was a success, and sparked a 27-year
career for the orbiter. In total the Discovery flew 39 missions, in doing so spent 365
days, 22 hours, 39 minutes, and 33 seconds in space. The distance that Discovery
traveled during all its missions combined was 238,539,663 km (148,221,675 miles).
The Sun being 149,600,000 km from Earth would have being a relatively short trip
for the Discovery. The Discovery was retired after landing its 39th mission STS-133

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on March 9, 2011, during its illustrious career it delivered many satellites into orbit,
including the HST on April 24, 1990.
At 12:33:51 PM, on April 24, 1990 at Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island,
Florida the Discovery fired its Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), which is
comprised of three clustered RS-25 rocket engines, along with two Solid Rocket
Boosters or SBR. Each RS-25 is capable of producing 2,279 kN (2,279,000 Newtons)
of thrust, and each SBR produces 12,000 kN (12,000,000 Newtons), for an over all
thrust of 30,837 kN (30,837,000 K) or 30 mK, thats 30 meganewtons! Aboard the
Discovery were Commander Loren J. Shriver, Pilot Charles F. Bolden, Jr., and
Mission Specialists Steven A. Hawley, Bruce McCandless II and Kathryn D. Sullivan.
Their mission was to deliver the Hubble Space Telescope to a LEO, and to change the
way people looked at the universe (literally).
The Discovery launched vertically like a conventional rocket. It lifted off
under the power of its two SRBs and three RS-25s, which were fueled by liquid
hydrogen and liquid oxygen from the External Tank (ET). The Discovery had a twostage ascent. The SRBs provided additional thrust during liftoff and first-stage flight.
About two minutes after liftoff, frangible nuts were fired, releasing the SRBs, which
then parachuted into the ocean, for retrieval later and reuse. The Discovery and ET
continued to ascend on an increasingly horizontal flight path under power from its
main engines. Upon reaching 28,200 km/h (7.8 km/s), necessary for low Earth orbit
(LEO), the main engines were shut down. At this point the ET is jettisoned to burn

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up in the atmosphere. The Discovery and its payload were now in a LEO at 569km
above sea level. A few days of preparation and the crew opened the main cargo bay
doors and set the HST into its own orbit. This sounds like an easy task, but took two
days to slowly release the HST into space.
The gravitational force of the Earth is constantly trying to pull the Space
Shuttle back to Earth, but the shuttles momentum is trying to continue in a straight
line, this ends up causing the shuttle to continually fall or orbit around the Earth.
At this point the pull of the Earths gravity is balanced with the velocity of the
Discovery, if the Discovery were to have a higher or lower velocity it would not be
able to orbit the Earth at this altitude. We can look at this orbit by plugging it into
this equation.

Where G is 6.673 x 10-11 Nm2/kg2 (gravitational constant), Mcentral is the

mass of the central body about which the satellite orbits (Earth, 5.97219 x 1024kg),
and R is the radius of orbit for the satellite 6.37 x 106 m+ h (h is the height of the
satellite above the earth). To determine the radius of the orbit at which the Hubble
will travel along we take the radius of the Earth and add the 380km to 6.37 x 106 m
radius of Earth. Now that we have all the pieces of the puzzle lets put them together
and see if we get the orbital velocity of the Shuttle and the HST.

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v = SQRT [ (6.673 x 10-11 N m2/kg2) (5.98 x 1024 kg) / (6.47 x 106 +569,000m) ]v
=SQRT [ (0.00000000006673) (5,980,000,000,000,000,000,000,000)/ 6,939,000]
v =SQRT (57507623)
v = 7583m/s
We can see that with a little basic algebra we can calculate the velocity at which the
Discovery and the Hubble orbit the Earth. From here we will observe to impacts and
contributions to different sciences.
Astronomy
Astronomy is the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space,
and the physical universe as a whole. For as long as astronomy has been around
there has been a strong sense to expand the science by seeing more and seeing
further into space. The telescope is in constant orbit of earth and captures photos
and images of the universe, galaxies and other wonders. For astronomers this
telescope made many revolutions when it came to understanding the space. To
show the universe in unprecedented detail has turned astronomical conjectures into
concrete certainties. (hubblesite.org) The telescope has revealed that the universe
is about thirteen to fourteen billion years old. (hubblesite.org) Surprisingly, this is
much more accurate than before when it was believed to be ten to twenty billion
years old. Showing that telescope is providing accurate and concrete evidence of
space. In 1998 the telescope gave us information from a far distant supernovae that
told us that the universe was not slowing down in growth like most scientist

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thought but in fact it is actually speeding up in expansion. (science.nasa.gov) There

are a few theories describing this but scientists are still unsure what is actually
happening behind the expansion of space but they named this dark energy. The
telescope has given us great photos and information on galaxies and how they form.
These are only a few of many contributions that the Hubble Telescope has made to
Astronomy. Another science that it has helped with is Planetary Science.
Planetary Science
Planetary Science is the science or study of planets; this includes earth,
moons, planetary systems, and the solar system. This science studies anything from
small micrometeoroids to gas giants. Like Astronomy it has helped provide many
images and photos for planetary scientists to observe for findings and better
understandings of the planets. Here are a few photos used by the Hubble Telescope
for planetary science.

(Figure 8, Hubble Telescope; Wikipedia.ord; Sombrero Galaxy)

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(Figure 9, Hubble Telescope; thefutureofthings.com; Stellar Spire in the Eagle

Nebula)
Cosmology
Cosmology is the scientific study of the origin and structure of the universe.
(Webster.com) This science among others has had impact from the creation of the
Hubble telescope. It has been capturing images and changing the way humans view
the universe for over twenty years. (space.com) Like astronomy the Hubble has
made its major influence by recognizing the expansion of the universe. With the
telescope, they realized by measuring the distances between certain galaxies it
would give them a much more accurate estimate on how old the universe actually
was. Here is a photo of a distant galaxy captured by the telescope.

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(Figure 10, Hubble telescope; discovermagazine.com, Hubble and Spitzer find most
distant galaxy)
This leads into Physics, and the impact the telescope has made on physics and
different theories of physics.
Physics
Physics, a science that deals with matter and energy and the way they act on
each other in heat, light, electricity, and sound. (Webster.com) Physics is a very
detailed science that deals with all parts of nature understanding forces and how the
interact with one another. The telescope has changed how scientists look at space
and matter. A major discovery that won a Nobel Prize for Physics in 2011 was the
expansion of the universe is actually accelerating and not slowing down, which is
called dark energy. Until the telescope, scientists believed that the expansion of the

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universe is actually slowing down because of the gravitation pull of all other matter
in space.

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References

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Hubble Space Telescope - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved
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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/the_story_2.html

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NASA. (2009, December 27). Stellar Spire in the Eagle Nebula. Retrieved October 28,
2014, from TFOT: http://thefutureofthings.com/6557-stellar-spire-in-theeagle-nebula/
Netting, R. (2014, October 7). Dark Energy, Dark Matter. Retrieved October 28, 2014,
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