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Funding Denied
Funding originally for the Hubble space telescope was denied. This lead to a large-scale lobbying effort by NASA to get congress to approve. This effort was led by Spitzer and John Bahcall. -
Funding Approved
American congress approves funding for the large space telescope. This also begins the building of the large space telescope. NASA didn't get congress to approve this easily. -
Operations Begin in Baltimore
Space Telescope Science Institute begins operations in Baltimore, Maryland. The entire optical assembly wasnt put together until 1984. And the final assembly didnt take place until 1985. -
Telescope Renamed Hubble
The telescope was named after Edwin Hubble. He was an astronomer who proved existance of other galaxies. He also discovered the first evidence for an expanding universe. -
Work on Hubble Complete
It took 8 years from the start of funding for the Hubble to the completion. Now all of Hubble's pieces were in place. NASA planned for an October 1986 launch. -
Shuttle Challenger Exploads
The shuttle went into the sky in Florida and it seemed to be a routine launch. This was not th case and after a minute of flight, it exploaded into a ball of smoke. This questioned when Hubble was actually going to launch into orbit. -
Hubble Launched
Shuttle flights resumed in 1988. Hubble was lauched aboard Discovery in 1990. The first few images were slightly blurred which reulted in less spectacular images. -
Sphereical Abberation Discovered
This was discovered by Hubble's primary mirror. Thid caused the image to look far more blurry. NASA quickly fixes this problems and images appear much clearer. -
First Servicing Mission
The edges of the mirrors on Hubble were too flat so engineers had to rush to fix the problem. The System used to fix the problem was called COSTAR. It allowed Hubbles instuments to operate normally so Hubble could have its first mission in 1993. -
Pillars of Creation Photo
Hubble took this famous photo of the Eagle Nebula. It is the most popular photo that Hubble had ever taken. These pillars are made of hydrogen and dust and are incubaters for new stars. -
Servicing Mission 2
The crew STS-82 installed the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer. They also installed the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. This was used to detect infrared light from deep space objects. -
Servicing Mission 3A
This replaced all of the telescopes old gyroscopes. STS-103 also replaced one of the telescopes three fine guidance sensors and insalled a new computer. They did this all in time to deploy Hubble into orbit on Christmas day. -
Servicing Mission 3B
Columbia crew members installed the new Advanced Camera for Surveys. Also, astronauts replaced solar panels with a more efficient array. They also conducted repairs on the NICMOS. -
Columbia Astonauts Killed
Seven astronauts on Columbia were killed as there Space Shuttle disintegrated as they reentered Earths atmosphere. Future shuttle missions would now only go to the International Space Station. There inspection and repair of the shuttle were done to make the shuttle safe. -
Fomalhaut b Photograph
The exoplanet Fomalhaut b was photographed by Hubble. It was one of the first planets to be confirmed by direct imaging. This image is taken as Hubble is completing its 100,000 orbit around Earth. -
Sevicing Mission 4
The installation of Wide Field Camera 3 occured. The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph was also installed. Finally, they repaired the STIS and the ACS.
