Hubble Space Telescope essays

Hubble Space Telescope essays Humanity has always had a natural curiosity of the world around them. They have explored the known world from the highest peak in the Himalayas to the trenches under the sea. As we explore our home planet, we often look up to the stars with the thought of what lies beyond our solar system. Scientists known as astronomers have always wanted a way to view into space. Unfortunately, our ingenuity has become a hindrance. Lights in the city block out the heavens and pollution shade the stars. Even out in the remote mountains where observatories are built, we are limited by what we can see through our own atmosphere. Up until the 1990s, people have always wanted a clearer view of the heavens; but in April 1990, a dream came true as the first general-purpose orbiting observatory named after Edwin Hubble is launched into orbit. The Hubble Telescope began life in 1923 amazingly as a conceptual idea of a famed rocket scientist named Herman Oberth who published an article speculating upon telescopes in orbit. Herman Oberths dream was pursued by astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer who worked in 1969 to gather supporters and funds for such a big project. In the same year, the National Academy of Sciences gave its approval for a Large Space Telescope and studies began on the project. 1977 Congress finally approves of the funding of a Large Space Telescope that NASA named Hubble Space Telescope in honor of Edwin Hubble. In 1981 an institution was formed in Baltimore Maryland as a research center for the Hubble Space Telescope known as the Space Telescope Science Institute. Construction on the Telescope began and continued until it was completed in 1990. It was launched into orbit aboard the Shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. On the 25th, the telescope was deployed. Hubble orbits approximately 600 kilometers or about 375 miles above the earth. It has a 94.5 inch diameter main mirror which, in theory, is able to resolve astronomical objects a...