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This summer, the world was watching as seven astronauts visited the Hubble Space Telescope and did the first ever on-orbit repairs in space. This fifth and final Shuttle mission to service Hubble has equipped the telescope with cutting-edge technology and extended its mission lifespan for several additional years. Here at the Astrophysics Science Division, we are excited about the data being captured by Hubble’s enhanced instruments, and the discoveries that are sure to come.
One of the astronauts on this mission, Dr. John Grunsfeld, is also an astrophysicist. We interviewed him about his experiences with Hubble as both a researcher and a repairman. He shared his thoughts about Hubble’s new capabilities, the value of astrophysics, and more. He also told us about a gorgeous image he snapped on a previous servicing mission and is now using as a screensaver – and you can download this image for your own computer!
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The Hubble Space Telescope is famous for its beautiful images of celestial objects – from planets in our own Solar System to far away galaxies. The Orion Nebula (known to astronomers as Messier object 42, or M42) is a cloud of dust, gas, and stars. It’s actually visible with the naked eye, located in the “sword” of the constellation Orion. The nebula contains both an open cluster of stars known as the Trapezium, and many stellar nurseries. Because of this, it’s of interest to scientists who want to learn more about how stars are born. And we don’t mean the kind out in Hollywood! (We know, that’s a terrible joke.)
Astronomer Massimo Roberto from the Space Telescope Science Institute has dedicated a lot of his research to the Orion Nebula, and he talked to us about the creation of a breathtaking mosaic of it made with data from the Hubble Space Telescope.
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To kick off our special summer series about data, we interviewed 2006 Nobel Laureate John Mather about the importance of imagery in communicating science and sharing data with the public. More than just “pretty pictures,” data can be used to tell a story and explain the mysteries of the cosmos. Not every piece of data would be considered a work of art, but the information contained is at the very heart of NASA science.
Working with COBE and the James Webb Space Telescope, Dr. Mather is no stranger to the power of data and the importance of scientific imagery. We got the scoop on how data is used in communication and why every bit of data is beautiful in its own way.
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The telescope on everyone’s mind during this month’s Space Shuttle flight was certainly the Hubble Space Telescope, as astronauts inspected, repaired, and upgraded the satellite for years of additional scientific observations. But two additional telescopes were aboard Atlantis for this historic flight – a museum-quality replica of one of Galileo’s telescopes, and a 200-year-old telescope built by master craftsman Jesse Ramsden.
To give you the scoop about these telescopes, we interviewed Marvin Bolt of the Adler Planetarium. Hubble may be NASA’s best-known telescope, but it wouldn’t be here without 400 years of innovation.
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Podcasts | Maggie Masetti | 
September 30, 2009 10:38 am | 
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