| HST | ||
The Hubble Space Telescope was designed to provide a space telescope with an order of magnitude better resolution than ground-based instruments. The initially flawed satellite was repaired, maintained, and upgraded in a series of space shuttle missions extending over a decade. The Hubble Space Telescope was the visible/ultraviolet/near-infrared element of the Great Observatories astronomical program. The spacecraft provided an order of magnitude better resolution than was possible with ground-based telescopes. The objectives of the HST were to:
The program included significant participation by ESA, which provided one of the science instruments, the solar arrays, and some operational support to the program. Responsibility for conducting and coordinating the science operations of the Hubble Space Telescope rested with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) at Johns Hopkins University, who operated it for NASA as a general observer facility available to astronomers from all countries. Hubble had a 3-axis stabilized, zero momentum biased control system using reaction wheels with a pointing accuracy of 0.007 arc-sec. Two double-roll-out solar arrays (2.3 m x 12 m) generated 5000 W and fed six 60 Ahr batteries. A hydrazine propulsion system allowed coarse attitude control and orbital correction. The S-band communications system used deployed articulated high gain antennas and provided uplink at 1 kbps and downlink (via TDRSS) at 256-512 kbps. The telescope was an f/24 Ritchey-Chretien Cassegrainian system with a 2.4 m diameter primary mirror and a 0.3 m Zerodur secondary. The effective focal length was 57.6 m. The Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) package was a corrective optics package designed to optically correct the effects of the primary mirror's aberration on the Faint Object Camera (FOC), Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS), and the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS). COSTAR displaced the High Speed Photometer during the first servicing mission to HST. Instruments included the Wide Field Planetary Camera (JPL), which consisted of four cameras that were used for general astronomical observations from far-UV to near-IR. The Faint Object Camera (ESA) used cumulative exposures to study faint objects. The Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) was used to analyze the properties of celestial objects such as chemical composition and abundances, temperature, radial velocity, rotational velocity, and magnetic fields. The FOS was sensitive from 1150 Angstroms (UV) through 8000 Angstroms (near-IR). The Goddard High Resolution Spectrometer (GHRS) separated incoming light into its spectral components so that the composition, temperature, motion, and other chemical and physical properties of objects could be analyzed. The GHRS was sensitive between 1050 and 3200 Angstroms. Design Life: 15 years (with on-orbit servicing). Typical orbit: 590 km circular, 28.5 deg inclination. Length: 13.30 m (43.60 ft). Maximum Diameter: 4.30 m (14.10 ft). Mass: 10,863 kg (23,948 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. HST Chronology
Bibliography and Further Reading
| ||
|
Contact us with any corrections, additions, or comments. Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site.. To contact astronauts or cosmonauts. © Mark Wade, 1997 - 2007 except where otherwise noted. |
|
Encyclopedia Astronautica topic index 0 - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - Ra - Re - Sa - Sf - Sp - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z |