Hubble Space Telescope

[Christopher K.]

Quite possibly the most famous telescope ever created was launched in April 1990. It's last servicing mission was in the spring of 2009.

This past Saturday morning a Neptunian Cadet at Science Academy asked me if there were plans to bring it back to Earth for inclusion in a mission. I know the idea is popular, but I don't know how practical it is.

Hubble's background:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubbl ... index.html

Hubble is investigating Comet Siding Spring as it makes its way past Mars. I don't know how long between imaging and release of the data...
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubbl ... index.html

[fred8615]

The answer is no, they won't be bringing it back. At least not in the way the Cadet meant. The plan is when Hubble ends its mission, it'll be de-orbited, and will burn up in the atmosphere, with any surviving pieces falling in the ocean.

Although this was always the plan, it's the only option now since the Space Shuttle (the only vehicle that could have brought it home intact) has been retired.

[Christopher K.]

Friday the 24th marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. The Highland Road Park Observatory will incorporate an activity mentioning this historic date into the proceedings of International Astronomy Day. A special slideshow will be created, among other stuff.

More information:
http://hubble25th.org/

[Christopher K.]

Tomorrow at 5am CDT, NASA-TV3 will broadcast a set of live media interviews related to the new Hubble Frontier Field Image.

At this time Hubble is imaging galaxy CSO1245.

Imaging simulation for Hubble...
http://spacetelescopelive.org/

[Christopher K.]

Although not often characterized in this manner in people's minds, Hubble does allow more accurate weather descriptions for several bodies in the Solar System. The Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy program (started in 2014) tasks Hubble with imaging each of the outer planets during its opposition.

More information:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronom ... ar-system/