Three years later, astronauts went to Hubble and installed a series of coin-sized mirrors in front of the original instruments. The new mirrors corrected the effects of the flawed shape of the primary mirror and fixed the blurriness. It was as though a pair of glasses had been placed on the telescope.
Success story
Suddenly, Hubble was working as expected. Since then, Hubble has been visited by astronauts repeatedly. The astronauts replace parts that are starting to break down and swap old instruments with new ones. Each time a science instrument in Hubble is replaced, it increases Hubble’s scientific power.
Hubble has greatly expanded astronomers’ knowledge about the universe. Before Hubble, distances to far-off galaxies were not well known. Questions such as how rapidly the universe is expanding, and for how long, created great controversy. Hubble’s data have helped astronomers answer these and other questions.
Biography
- Edwin Hubble
- The Hubble Space Telescope was named after Edwin Hubble, the man who discovered the expansion of the universe.