1 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:10,380 (Music) Hubble is turning 25… 2 00:00:10,380 --> 00:00:13,110 It's hard to believe! 3 00:00:13,110 --> 00:00:16,900 IT'S BEEN A FEW DECADES SINCE NANCY ROMAN WORKED ON THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, BUT 4 00:00:16,900 --> 00:00:22,939 SHE STILL HAS VIVID MEMORIES OF A TIME WHEN THE OBSERVATORY WAS STILL ON THE DRAWING BOARD. 5 00:00:22,939 --> 00:00:28,450 ROMAN: I remember when we were thinking about, hoping it would last 15 years. 6 00:00:28,450 --> 00:00:34,590 I'm certainly glad it's lasted another 10… and still going strong. 7 00:00:34,590 --> 00:00:38,100 NOT BAD FOR A TELESCOPE THAT ALMOST DIDN'T GET BUILT. 8 00:00:38,100 --> 00:00:46,460 O'DELL: Some of the most influential astronomers thought it was better to spend 300-million 9 00:00:46,460 --> 00:00:55,300 dollars by building 20 duplicates of the Palomar 200-inch telescope rather than spending the 10 00:00:55,300 --> 00:01:00,930 money on, the same amount of money on one very expensive telescope in space. 11 00:01:00,930 --> 00:01:06,570 WHILE THERE WERE PEOPLE LOBBYING AGAINST THE TELESCOPE, OTHERS COULDN'T WAIT TO USE A LARGE 12 00:01:06,570 --> 00:01:08,350 ORBITING OBSERVATORY. 13 00:01:08,350 --> 00:01:15,890 ROMAN: Astronomers have wanted for generations actually to get a telescope above the atmosphere. 14 00:01:15,890 --> 00:01:21,860 I like to describe the atmosphere as being something like looking through an old stained 15 00:01:21,860 --> 00:01:23,430 glass window. 16 00:01:23,430 --> 00:01:30,010 The window has dust on it so the background is kind of scattered and bright. 17 00:01:30,010 --> 00:01:32,950 Stained glass is colored. 18 00:01:32,950 --> 00:01:36,550 So that you only see certain colors through it. 19 00:01:36,550 --> 00:01:40,850 You only see certain colors through the atmosphere and we were anxious to see some of the other 20 00:01:40,850 --> 00:01:42,110 colors from the universe. 21 00:01:42,110 --> 00:01:49,490 O'DELL: The very sharp images it would produce would allow you to see things that were much 22 00:01:49,490 --> 00:01:55,189 fainter than would ever be possible from the ground. 23 00:01:55,189 --> 00:02:00,909 EVENTUALLY, THE MISSION KNOWN AS THE LARGE SPACE TELESCOPE BEGAN IN EARNEST DURING THE 24 00:02:00,909 --> 00:02:02,170 1970'S. 25 00:02:02,170 --> 00:02:05,780 BUT HOW WOULD AN OBSERVATORY OUT IN SPACE BE OPERATED? 26 00:02:05,780 --> 00:02:11,039 ROMAN: Man would ride along with the telescope and look through it. 27 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:15,129 In the first place, we wanted to get rid of the atmosphere and the man needed the atmosphere. 28 00:02:15,129 --> 00:02:17,680 Secondly, a man would wiggle. 29 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,280 And I don't care how, how much he tried to stay, stay, stay still. 30 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:26,450 No man or woman is going to sit for an hour without moving! 31 00:02:26,450 --> 00:02:29,170 ENGINEERS WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AT OTHER OPTIONS. 32 00:02:29,170 --> 00:02:36,829 O'DELL: The detectors were photographic film, photographic plates, no where as sensitive 33 00:02:36,829 --> 00:02:38,829 as we have today. 34 00:02:38,829 --> 00:02:45,360 ROMAN: The DoD did use photographic film for reconnaissance, would drop the film into the 35 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:47,659 ocean where it could be picked up. 36 00:02:47,659 --> 00:02:52,060 But that was much too expensive a process for NASA. 37 00:02:52,060 --> 00:03:00,800 INSTEAD, NASA LOOKED AT STORING THE IMAGES DIGITALLY ON CHARGE COUPLED DEVICES OR CCDs. 38 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,590 PROBLEM WAS, CCD TECHNOLOGY WAS IN ITS INFANCY. 39 00:03:04,590 --> 00:03:10,010 ROMAN: They were becoming of interest to the television industry. 40 00:03:10,010 --> 00:03:16,870 The problem was that CCDs had no sensitivity in the ultraviolet. 41 00:03:16,870 --> 00:03:21,499 And one of the things we wanted to do with the Hubble was to work in the ultraviolet. 42 00:03:21,499 --> 00:03:27,549 Coating the detectors with a chlorinate, an organic compound would make them sensitive 43 00:03:27,549 --> 00:03:29,510 to the ultraviolet. 44 00:03:29,510 --> 00:03:35,640 So the first use of the CCDs in astronomy was actually the proof of concept for Hubble. 45 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:41,109 WHAT WAS ARGUABLY THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE STANDING IN THE WAY OF HUBBLE GETTING THE MONEY TO 46 00:03:41,109 --> 00:03:42,780 PAY FOR IT. 47 00:03:42,780 --> 00:03:45,169 HUBBLE SUPPORTERS WON OUT IN THE END. 48 00:03:45,169 --> 00:03:51,279 ROMAN: I did a back of the envelope calculation and my answer was for the cost of a night 49 00:03:51,279 --> 00:03:59,530 at the movies every American taxpayer would have 15 years of exciting discoveries. 50 00:03:59,530 --> 00:04:04,290 ADD ANOTHER 10 YEARS FOR GOOD MEASURE AND HUBBLE HAS NOT ONLY ECLIPSED EXPECTATIONS, 51 00:04:04,290 --> 00:04:07,499 BUT EVEN MORE DISCOVERIES ARE PROBABLY ON THE HORIZON.