/sci/ - Science & Math

>>14844305
Found an article on Hubble from a Polish newspaper from the 90's
Hopefully it survived google translate without being too mangled


Two stars from heaven

The Hubble Space Telescope has started its work. On Sunday, it sent the first test photos to Earth. The scientists gathered at the NASA center were delighted. The photos turned out to be twice as sharp as expected.
The joy was all the greater as bad luck had haunted the entire program so far. At first, the launch was delayed almost indefinitely. Then, on the 25th of April, the space shuttle "Discovery" put the telescope in an orbit of 610 kilometers, the hatch protecting the sensitive optical system jammed, and then the guidance system failed.
The troubles are over. The first pictures of a binary star in the constellation of Carina have arrived to Earth from 1,260 lightyears away. Observed by comparable telescopes from Earth, it looks like a single light source.
The telescope will be ready for normal operation within a few months. Until then, its optical system will be sharpened even further - the photos are to be seven times more accurate than the trial ones.
The success of the first transmission increased the appetite. Scientists hope to reach 16 billion years into the past of the universe, that is, to observe objects that are light years away. There is also a chance to spot planets outside the solar system. This would be crucial to studying the possibility of life beyond Earth.