The numbers
- When it was launched
- In 1990It is still working
- Mirror
- 7.9ft across(2.4 m)
- What it sees
- Visible, ultraviolet and infrared light
- How high it flies
- 340mi(540 km)326 to 340 mi (525 to 550 km)
To get an idea
Its mirror is not enormous: its strength is where it is, not its size.
It is the only big space telescope that astronauts have repaired and upgraded in person.
Fun facts
These are not in the book: there was no room on paper.
It orbits between about three hundred twenty-five and three hundred forty miles up.
Soon after launch it turned out that its mirror had a flaw in its shape.
Astronauts went up there to repair it, and it is the only space telescope fixed that way.
After the repair they went back several more times to upgrade its instruments.
It is one of NASA's Great Observatories, a group of four space telescopes.
Test yourself
The first question is the one printed under the QR code, with the answer the book did not give. The other four only exist here.
Question 1 of 5★ is the one from your book
Why is Hubble in orbit?
Question 2 of 5
How big is its mirror?
Question 3 of 5
What happened soon after launch?
Question 4 of 5
How was the problem solved?
Question 5 of 5
What kind of light does it observe?
Riddles
They put me above the air because the air bothered me, and from up here I see colors that never even reach the ground. I have been at work for more than thirty years. What am I?
I was born with a flaw in my eye and at first I saw everything blurry. Then someone came all the way up here with tools and gave me glasses. What am I?
My mirror is not very big, and on the ground there are much wider ones: my luck is not my size, it is the place where I live. What am I?
Try it yourself
Look at a coin at the bottom of a glass of water and stir the water: the edge warps. The atmosphere does the same to starlight.
Look for two versions of the same picture, one from before and one from after Hubble's repair: the difference is striking.
The words
- infrared
- A light our eyes cannot see, beyond red.
Sources: Wikidata (Q2513), Wikipedia (Telescopio spaziale Hubble).