Hubble, during a 1999 servicing mission. Image credit: NASA/JSC.
By Brooke Edwards, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990 in the Space Shuttle Discovery’s payload bay. The telescope then was deployed into its orbital home 340 miles above the earth. Many obstacles and several service visits from astronauts ensued. Still, Hubble managed to provide us with decades of beautiful images of our universe.
A little more than 30 years ago, we could only imagine what distant galaxies look like. Thanks to Hubble, we now have stunning digital images. These infrared, ultraviolet and visible light images have changed our understanding of space. Deep-field images have provided us with a better estimation of the age of our universe.
When the Space Shuttle was retired in 2009, NASA had no way to ferry astronauts to the telescope to service it. Today, no spacecraft possesses the robotic arm manipulator (Canadarm) and payload bay that made the Space Shuttle the perfect service vehicle. Without them, there can be no plan to repair or update Hubble. As with all untended technology, the hardware onboard the telescope will one day run its course and cease functioning.
On June 13, for unknown reasons, Hubble’s payload computer stopped collecting science data. In response, NASA began to run a series of tests from the ground to diagnose the problem. This included switching on the telescope’s backup payload computer for the first time since it was placed in orbit. Tests run June 23-24 showed the same result on both computers, yet the issue was not solved. It is suspected the trouble may lie in either the Command Unit/Science Data Formatter (CU/SDF), which sends data back to Earth, or in the telescope’s power supply. Whatever the cause, it is a hard reminder that Hubble’s days are limited.
The space telescope’s legacy of discovery will continue with the James Webb Space Telescope, which is planned for launch later this year. Thank you, Hubble team, for opening our eyes to the vastness of our universe.
Updated July 16, 2021: According to ScienceMag.org, the Hubble Space Telescope is once again sending data.
