By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 7, 2008; Page A05
By the end of the year, the world's greatest telescope should be able to see deeper into space and further back in time than ever. If all goes as planned, it will be able to detect events closer to the big bang, explore the "cosmic web" of galaxies and intergalactic gas that make up the large-scale structure of the universe, and reveal much more about how and when distant stars and planets were formed.
NASA scientists, engineers and astronauts are finalizing plans to fly the space shuttle this fall on a mission to the Hubble Space Telescope to repair and upgrade the orbiting observatory that revolutionized astronomy. The long-delayed servicing mission will be the last for the Hubble, NASA says, but it will allow the telescope to perform at its highest level ever for the remaining five or six years of its operating life.
"This will be the first time ever that instrument box is full," said Hubble senior scientist David Leckrone last week. "We will have the most powerful imaging capability on Hubble ever, and possibly anywhere."
It is hard to overstate the importance of the Hubble and its insights into the evolution of the universe, the presence of mysterious dark matter and dark energy, and the existence of hundreds (and probably many more) of planets orbiting distant stars.
In a briefing at the Goddard Space Flight Center, scientists said that observations by the telescope have resulted in an average of 12 published discoveries a week for years, and that almost 4,400 principal and co-investigators have produced articles based on its data.
"This is surely the most productive telescope in history," said Charles Mattias "Matt" Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute on the Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/06/AR2008070601550.htmlYea! more images like this!
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