29 Amazing Years

[A Life Aloft]

In 2020, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) will have been photographing the cosmos for 30 years. It has had a long and illustrious career, capturing some of the most breathtaking, beautiful images in the entire universe.

With abilities far, far beyond those of the human eye, the HST captures near-ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared light while sitting outside the blurring effect of the Earth's atmosphere. This unique combination of abilities lets the HST, whose principal mirror is larger than a human being at eight feet, peer into the past and examine stars as they live, breath, and die in fiery explosions.

Humanity's knowledge of the universe would be far less expansive compared to what it is now if not for the HST. For example, astrophysicists even used the HST to determine the exact rate of the universe's expansion.

The HST will eventually fall back down to Earth, however, sometime between 2030 to 2040. Its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope both spiritually and scientifically, is set to launch into space in 2021.



James Webb telescope

Cosmic clouds and stellar winds features LL Orionis interacting with the Orion Nebula flow

The Eagle Nebula

Huge waves are sculpted in this two-lobed nebula some 3,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius

The Orion Nebula, this particular nebula is among the brightest in our night sky

The Calabash Nebula, pictured here is a spectacular example of the death of a low-mass star like the Sun

Monkey Head Nebula





The Lagoon Nebula, an object with a deceptively tranquil name. The region is filled with intense winds from hot stars, churning funnels of gas, and energetic star formation, all embedded within an intricate haze of gas and pitch-dark dust

Greatest achievements





Westerlund

 

[Autothrust Blue]

And, of course, it had a problem with the mirror, and they had to fly up there and fix it, or it wouldn't happen at all.

Related: I always thought Story Musgrave was one of the more colorful astronauts from the Shuttle era.


And, of course, the last of the Hubble servicing missions was the last time you had two full STS stacks on the pads simultaneously:

 

[Autothrust Blue]

As an interesting side note, 2/2 EVA "experts" (Apollo 11 CMP Michael Collins, and Story Musgrave) have turned out to be the most interesting of the astronauts I've paid attention to.

 

[Boris Badenov]

Never heard of them, were they ever on TMZ?

 

[deadstick]

And, of course, the last of the Hubble servicing missions was the last time you had two full STS stacks on the pads simultaneously:

I thought that was right before they launched to takeout that huge, Global Killer asteroid.

 

[trafficinsight]

And, of course, it had a problem with the mirror, and they had to fly up there and fix it, or it wouldn't happen at all.

Related: I always thought Story Musgrave was one of the more colorful astronauts from the Shuttle era.


And, of course, the last of the Hubble servicing missions was the last time you had two full STS stacks on the pads simultaneously:

Capability we may never have again.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

Capability we may never have again.

BUT ELON PUT A TESLA IN A HELIOCENTRIC ORBIT BRO

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

BUT ELON PUT A TESLA IN A HELIOCENTRIC ORBIT BRO

When you’re unhappy that we’re ceding our nation’s space superiority, being mad at the one guy who is keeping us in the game seems a little lame.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

When you’re unhappy that we’re ceding our nation’s space superiority, being mad at the one guy who is keeping us in the game seems a little lame.

Meh, you’re pretending that Boeing and ULA don’t exist.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Meh, you’re pretending that Boeing and ULA don’t exist.

When Boeing can vertically land used rocket engines after launching huge payloads, I’ll give them some credit.

 

[denverpilot]

It’s always a chuckle when folks ooh and ahh over Hubble. The first KH-11 was launched in 1976.

Much of Hubble’s main design was based on them, since the tooling and facilities already existed...

They’re just pointed the other direction. And a lot more of them.

It would appear there’s a pretty new girl on the block that has a rather interesting orbit who’s probably showing up her KH-11 siblings though.

When cell phone shots of KH-11 late block imagery start showing up on Twitter, you know she isn’t “the new hotness” anymore. Haha.

Marsha Marsha Marsha! LOL.

 

[denverpilot]

For those wondering what I’m talking about, Scott covered the basics.

He’s being very careful about what he says and what he knows or can deduce from his knowledge level, I noticed.

 

[trafficinsight]

When Boeing can vertically land used rocket engines after launching huge payloads, I’ll give them some credit.

Personally I don't like that were handing our space program over to corporate America but so far SpaceX isn't really any different from other contractors except that it was begun as a rich guy's hobby.

My disdain for Elon/SpaceX sycophants aside, it's cool tech. It costs payload to do that, though, and sometimes I wonder why.

When SpaceX can capture a satellite and bring it back to earth, I'll give them some credit. Elon has said that he wants to be able to turn a falcon booster around in 24 hours, that will definitely impress me.

I hope Webb is squared away because if not...

 

[knot4u]

Personally I don't like that were handing our space program over to corporate America but so far SpaceX isn't really any different from other contractors except that it was begun as a rich guy's hobby.

My disdain for Elon/SpaceX sycophants aside, it's cool tech. It costs payload to do that, though, and sometimes I wonder why.

When SpaceX can capture a satellite and bring it back to earth, I'll give them some credit. Elon has said that he wants to be able to turn a falcon booster around in 24 hours, that will definitely impress me.

I hope Webb is squared away because if not...

I agree, I wish our government put a higher priority on our space program, but they don't. We have a legitimate requirement that our government won't fund, that leaves a vacuum that will be filled by private companies wanting to profit. Maybe the days of the lowest bidder winning a contract are behind us. Space is hard.

 

[denverpilot]

Elon has said that he wants to be able to turn a falcon booster around in 24 hours, that will definitely impress me.

He stands a better chance today than the same claim by the Shuttle supporters in the 80s. LOL. Everyone remember that promise?

Pepperidge Farm remembers...

I agree, I wish our government put a higher priority on our space program, but they don't. We have a legitimate requirement that our government won't fund, that leaves a vacuum that will be filled by private companies wanting to profit. Maybe the days of the lowest bidder winning a contract are behind us. Space is hard.

I assume you mean “space” as in the public side and not the NRO side. There’s never been even a lift of the gas pedal on priority on that stuff, as mentioned above, and over half of Elon’s launches are scheduled to be paid by those folks right now.

Whether they’re just teasing him and will say they need to keep flying on Delta for security reasons, remains to be seen. He could be being played.

I suspect ULA isn’t going to give up the teat to the runt of the litter without a fight.

When the public laments the downsizing of the space program they usually mean the public viewable stuff. Meanwhile launches never stopped or even slowed...

Y’all did catch that Scott mentioned that a “private” imaging firm has enough assets on orbit to do the entirety of Google Earth’s imagery over again in three days to the same or better resolution, right?

Suppose anyone else writes regular checks to them for imagery?

Of course they may have paid the Russians to launch their stuff. I didn’t go check. Their lower orbit was probably to avoid rules mandating them to launch with “allies”. Less lens needed. Now you have me curious.

But anyway. The overall launch schedule never slowed as Shuttle wound down. If anything it just allowed the money to be funneled to revamping the public launch facilities for Elon.

It’s kinda like sticking a toll road on a highway originally built with tax dollars and eminent domain. Literally even. I believe the land owners on the Cape were still arguing in court well into Apollo. Those who didn’t take pennies on the dollar, lost.

It’s documented in “Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations” which I can only really recommend for someone with really bad insomnia.

 

[knot4u]

He stands a better chance today than the same claim by the Shuttle supporters in the 80s. LOL. Everyone remember that promise?

Pepperidge Farm remembers...



I assume you mean “space” as in the public side and not the NRO side. There’s never been even a lift of the gas pedal on priority on that stuff, as mentioned above, and over half of Elon’s launches are scheduled to be paid by those folks right now.

Whether they’re just teasing him and will say they need to keep flying on Delta for security reasons, remains to be seen. He could be being played.

I suspect ULA isn’t going to give up the teat to the runt of the litter without a fight.

When the public laments the downsizing of the space program they usually mean the public viewable stuff. Meanwhile launches never stopped or even slowed...

Y’all did catch that Scott mentioned that a “private” imaging firm has enough assets on orbit to do the entirety of Google Earth’s imagery over again in three days to the same or better resolution, right?

Suppose anyone else writes regular checks to them for imagery?

Of course they may have paid the Russians to launch their stuff. I didn’t go check. Their lower orbit was probably to avoid rules mandating them to launch with “allies”. Less lens needed. Now you have me curious.

But anyway. The overall launch schedule never slowed as Shuttle wound down. If anything it just allowed the money to be funneled to revamping the public launch facilities for Elon.

It’s kinda like sticking a toll road on a highway originally built with tax dollars and eminent domain. Literally even. I believe the land owners on the Cape were still arguing in court well into Apollo. Those who didn’t take pennies on the dollar, lost.

It’s documented in “Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations” which I can only really recommend for someone with really bad insomnia.

I'm not sure what NRO is an acronym for, the fact that private companies are striving to operate while profiting are filling the void is proof of my point. Who would you expect their main customers to be?

 

[trafficinsight]

He stands a better chance today than the same claim by the Shuttle supporters in the 80s. LOL. Everyone remember that promise?

Pepperidge Farm remembers...

I don't think anyone ever made the claim that a shuttle could be turned in 24hrs, and anyway that's apples to oranges.

Falcon is a booster, STS was an on orbit utility platform.

The mistake, of course, was selling it as the sole launch vehicle. Risking lives to launch a communications satellite was irresponsible and stupid. Repairing a satellite on orbit, or retrieving one, however, that's awesome.

 

[denverpilot]

The mistake, of course, was selling it as the sole launch vehicle. Risking lives to launch a communications satellite was irresponsible and stupid. Repairing a satellite on orbit, or retrieving one, however, that's awesome.

A mission risking lives for a telescope pointed outward probably never ever gets green-lighted without Story in the mix. He was smart enough to let other people take credit for his push, but it’s technically not a great idea.

An angry Congress and disappointed general public helped to allow him to be “awesome”. LOL. The dude barely fits in a space suit. He’s a force of nature. For various reasons.

Shuttle HAD captured another satellite and done repairs long before the Hubble rescue, also.

I listened to almost all of the NASA public audio during the Hubble repair... even with a solid plan, that wasn’t easy and was very close to being a dangerous stunt.

But like I said, force of nature. Story and the other volunteers did some amazing work. Came very close to not succeeding but pulled it off.

Of course in the same timeframe and era, NRO and others, including lots of other countries, just blew things up and launched another. LOL. Lots of them. Arianne-5 and the sensor overflow bug, for one of the most spectacular. Bunch of Russian stuff we only learned officially about later. Etc.

Story has mentioned now that a lot of people, even inside NASA, quietly wanted them to fail before they ever got off the pad. Super risky. Paid off in an amazing PR coup in the end. We all still wish there was another Story to go flying to the rescue when needed.

Not sure we will. Even with a manned budget, his push for that rescue mission was particularly unique with a fortuitous set of circumstances pushing externally. Public disappointment, angry Congress, desire to prove a manned program was needed, you name it, the stars aligned, pun intended.

The theme of exploration and survival and all that always rings with the public. The Martian was well received. That dude wouldn’t have survived, of course. No renegades heading back for him or any of that, either. But it’s a good story.

Whether or not killing another crew on the way there is well received, we don’t know yet. Americans are stubborn, we’ll kill at least one crew and continue on. We have a pattern of that. The pattern is less clear at the second crew.

Chinese have rovers on the Moon right now. Not too much interest in the mainstream press. Not many really care about space without the occasional group of cowboys up in it.

 

[denverpilot]

I'm not sure what NRO is an acronym for, the fact that private companies are striving to operate while profiting are filling the void is proof of my point. Who would you expect their main customers to be?

Look up who that is and you’ll know who his main customer is.

Seriously though. You’re the customer. Big dollars and huge debts. Think spooky.

Or the mission patch in the video link I posted... the Latin says, “The Devil you know...”

Of course this is all just “projections”. Until his rockets do certain things that plan can always change.

ULA can still build Deltas... and Titans...

 

[cezzna]

To put men on the moon, NASA was 15% of the federal budget. Those days are never coming back, now it’s a scant 0.3% of the federal budget. I’m surprised anyone cares these days. People are more likely to whine for reparations caused by the government’s reckless spending of the past. You’ll get to tell your grandkids you were part of the space era though, which few will ever do. It’s likely to be 100% dead in the next 50 years.