1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:01,650 How do you get 2 00:00:01,690 --> 00:00:02,529 from here 3 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:04,300 …to here 4 00:00:05,850 --> 00:00:07,000 …to here? 5 00:00:18,650 --> 00:00:22,000 Hubble’s History 6 00:00:22,100 --> 00:00:25,585 Venice is just a few centimetres above sea level, 7 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:30,190 a pretty interesting starting point to reach the space. 8 00:00:30,195 --> 00:00:32,520 But in 1609, 9 00:00:32,530 --> 00:00:36,050 Galileo Galilei brought this city a bit closer to the stars 10 00:00:36,100 --> 00:00:41,370 when he gave one of the very first demonstrations of his new telescope. 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:43,050 A few months after that, 12 00:00:43,050 --> 00:00:44,900 he discovered Jupiter’s moons, 13 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,387 Io, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. 14 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:51,390 Four centuries later, 15 00:00:51,395 --> 00:00:55,423 another telescope has made its mark here. 16 00:00:55,658 --> 00:00:59,840 Hubble was launched in 1990. 17 00:00:59,860 --> 00:01:05,010 And that’s of course when its history of scientific discoveries starts. 18 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,000 But Hubble’s history isn’t just about science and technology. 19 00:01:09,002 --> 00:01:15,400 Like Galileo’s story, it’s also one of politics, money… 20 00:01:15,402 --> 00:01:19,954 and extremely smart people doing very difficult things. 21 00:01:21,623 --> 00:01:26,550 The team planning Hubble had to make difficult decisions 22 00:01:26,551 --> 00:01:30,965 about where to simplify the telescope to satisfy these political and monetary constraints. 23 00:01:30,966 --> 00:01:35,445 In fact, even the size of Hubble had to be reduced 24 00:01:35,446 --> 00:01:39,000 from a staggering 3 metres in diameter to its eventual, 25 00:01:39,001 --> 00:01:42,900 and still impressive, 2.4 metres. 26 00:01:44,450 --> 00:01:47,190 While the Hubble team worked away at the technical problems 27 00:01:47,191 --> 00:01:49,630 and struggled to stay on budget, 28 00:01:49,631 --> 00:01:54,695 a political storm was brewing in Washington DC. 29 00:01:54,697 --> 00:01:59,010 Politicians were alarmed by the rising costs, 30 00:01:59,011 --> 00:02:02,980 and told NASA to find an international partner. 31 00:02:02,982 --> 00:02:08,160 An early collaboration with Europe turned out to be essential. 32 00:02:08,162 --> 00:02:13,828 European involvement boosted the wavering support from US congress 33 00:02:13,829 --> 00:02:15,775 and with the European Space Agency as a partner, 34 00:02:15,776 --> 00:02:18,752 the Hubble project was back in action. 35 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:22,670 Hubble survived the politics, 36 00:02:22,671 --> 00:02:26,040 only to be derailed by optics. 37 00:02:26,042 --> 00:02:31,340 Spherical aberration — a flaw in the main mirror — 38 00:02:31,341 --> 00:02:34,312 meant that the telescope couldn’t focus properly. 39 00:02:34,313 --> 00:02:38,236 Where Hubble’s images should have been razor-sharp, 40 00:02:38,237 --> 00:02:42,766 astronomers struggled to make out the fine details of their observations. 41 00:02:47,100 --> 00:02:50,882 Though nobody had predicted a problem with the mirror, 42 00:02:50,883 --> 00:02:54,969 Hubble was designed with the unexpected in mind. 43 00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:00,300 It’s the only space telescope ever launched that was intended to be serviced in space. 44 00:03:00,301 --> 00:03:03,660 This meant that astronauts were able to return to Hubble to fix the problem. 45 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,595 In total Hubble was visited five times by astronauts 46 00:03:08,596 --> 00:03:11,383 which carried out repairs and installed upgrades. 47 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,300 And so from planning, to launch, to repair, 48 00:03:18,301 --> 00:03:22,645 Hubble’s history has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. 49 00:03:23,586 --> 00:03:27,580 But it has all been worth the politics, the sweat and the tears!