1 00:00:00,020 --> 00:00:02,080 [female reporter] The world's most iconic telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:08,140 is celebrating 25 years in orbit. Here to show us some of Hubble's most amazing images 3 00:00:08,140 --> 00:00:12,150 and talk about some of the science it's delivered, is Dr. Jane Rigby 4 00:00:12,150 --> 00:00:14,210 from NASA's Goddard Space Center, thanks for joining us. 5 00:00:14,210 --> 00:00:16,250 [Dr. Rigby] Of course, happy to be here. 6 00:00:16,250 --> 00:00:21,310 [female reporter] So, Hubble Space Telescope is 25, can you show us some Hubble's amazing images? 7 00:00:21,310 --> 00:00:27,340 [Dr. Rigby] Absolutely, Hubble has taken so many gorgeous images over it's 25 lifetime. 8 00:00:27,340 --> 00:00:33,410 We have seen, these are images that are scientifically powerful and also gorgeous. 9 00:00:33,410 --> 00:00:37,470 We've seen our own solar system, we've seen places where stars, like our own 10 00:00:37,470 --> 00:00:42,490 Sun are forming. We've seen places where stars like our Sun are dying. 11 00:00:42,490 --> 00:00:48,520 We can see galaxies like our own milkyway near by and when we look into deep space 12 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:54,540 we can see thousands of galaxies, young and old. 13 00:00:54,540 --> 00:01:02,610 [female reporter] What are some of the surprising things you've learned? 14 00:01:02,610 --> 00:01:08,700 [Dr. Rigby] Well Hubble has given us so many surprises, this a telescope that rewrote the 15 00:01:08,700 --> 00:01:16,730 science textbooks. A few of my favorites, I would have to say that when Hubble looks deep 16 00:01:16,730 --> 00:01:23,800 space, right, at parts of the night's sky that look black and empty and stares for weeks. 17 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:30,830 You add all those images together, you get a picture of deep space. What you see is 18 00:01:30,830 --> 00:01:37,870 thousands of galaxies, galaxies everywhere you look. Hubble has taught us that the universe is 19 00:01:37,870 --> 00:01:44,950 full of galaxies. We can study galaxies that are young, that have just formed as well as galaxies 20 00:01:44,950 --> 00:01:51,040 that are old and that are done forming stars. We can connect those dots to understand how 21 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:55,070 galaxies like our own milkyway formed and evolved. 22 00:01:55,070 --> 00:01:57,150 [female reporter] What excites you most about Hubble? 23 00:01:57,150 --> 00:02:03,170 [Dr. Rigby] You know I'm going to have to, so for me Hubble is a very personal thing, right Hubble 24 00:02:03,170 --> 00:02:07,210 use by thousands scientists all over the world. I'm one of them 25 00:02:07,210 --> 00:02:12,220 I have led five programs with five programs with Hubble. It's incredibly competitive, right. 26 00:02:12,220 --> 00:02:17,280 Ninety percent of the proposals are rejected, but when you are lucky enough to win 27 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:23,360 then you get to use the telescope. So some of the favorite days in my life have been coming to 28 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:29,430 work early in the morning. Hubble took data for me over night and you are alright is it down yet? 29 00:02:29,430 --> 00:02:35,490 you are waiting for the data to come down to Earth. Then you can open up and see apart of 30 00:02:35,490 --> 00:02:41,560 the universe where no one has seen before and you get to be the first to do that. Hubble does that 31 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:46,600 every day and for us astronomers it's very, its like your birthday when you get to be the one to 32 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:48,630 get new data from the Hubble Space Telescope. 33 00:02:48,630 --> 00:02:54,650 [female reporter] The story of Hubble is also a human story, astronauts service the telescope 34 00:02:54,650 --> 00:02:57,670 five times. Can you talk about some of the obstacles that Hubble has overcome? 35 00:02:57,670 --> 00:03:02,730 [Dr. Rigby] So the Hubble story is one of a lot of drama and ultimately of triumph. 36 00:03:02,730 --> 00:03:08,780 Hubble was launched in 1990 with a defective primary mirror. It was ground very precisely to the 37 00:03:08,780 --> 00:03:16,830 wrong shape. We realized that error and in 1993, astronauts went up with Space Shuttle 38 00:03:16,830 --> 00:03:23,920 and put corrective lenses into Hubble, that fixed the mirror. Ever since then Hubble has delivered 39 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:30,950 beautiful gorgeous images. Astronauts have been back to service Hubble four more times. 40 00:03:30,950 --> 00:03:37,000 Installed new camera's every couple of years. So if you think about where, and thanks to that 41 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:42,070 right, these astronauts were risking their lives to fix Hubble. But every time they did, they made 42 00:03:42,070 --> 00:03:49,100 Hubble much better. So they fixed problems like gyroscopes and computers that were failing. 43 00:03:49,100 --> 00:03:56,150 But they also put in new digital cameras every couple years. Even though Hubble is 25 years 44 00:03:56,150 --> 00:03:59,200 old, have cutting edge amazing instruments on board. 45 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,250 [female reporter] Talk about how Hubble has touched people. 46 00:04:02,250 --> 00:04:10,280 [Dr. Rigby] Hubble not only takes great scientific data that has rewritten the science text book 47 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:18,290 but it also touches people on a real profound level. When you look at Hubble images they are 48 00:04:18,290 --> 00:04:24,310 beautiful. They touch you deeply. I think that's one of the amazing things about Hubble. 49 00:04:24,310 --> 00:04:24,320 So everyone knows about Hubble. It is the most famous telescope since Galileo. 50 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:31,330 So everyone knows about Hubble. It is the most famous telescope since Galileo first used 51 00:04:31,330 --> 00:04:38,380 a telescope to look up. So it's used by, Hubble images and Hubble content are used by students 52 00:04:38,380 --> 00:04:45,410 in all 50 states and their schools. Hubble is the most famous telescope in our lifetime 53 00:04:45,410 --> 00:04:48,430 and probably since Galileo first used one. 54 00:04:48,430 --> 00:04:54,440 [female reporter] In 2018 NASA will launch the James Webb Space Telescope, tell us a little 55 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,490 bit about this mission. 56 00:04:56,490 --> 00:05:01,530 [Dr. Rigby] So Hubble is fantastic. We are designing and building a new telescope 57 00:05:01,530 --> 00:05:07,570 to what Hubble can't do. So the James Webb Space Telescope which is being built right now 58 00:05:07,570 --> 00:05:11,660 here at the Goddard Space Flight Center. It's much bigger than Hubble, it has a 7 times larger 59 00:05:11,660 --> 00:05:18,700 mirror. It is designed, we've had built it to do exactly what Hubble can't do. 60 00:05:18,700 --> 00:05:23,800 The Webb Telescope will be operated very cold, so that it can see kinds of light that Hubble 61 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:30,810 can't see. Our goal with the Webb telescope is to see the first generation of stars and planets 62 00:05:30,810 --> 00:05:35,860 and galaxies that formed after the big bang. Hubble just can't quite do that 63 00:05:35,860 --> 00:05:40,870 it's not a big enough mirror and it's not a cold enough telescope, but the Webb telescope will 64 00:05:40,870 --> 00:05:41,940 be able to. 65 00:05:41,940 --> 00:05:45,000 [female reporter] Where can we see more of Hubble's beautiful images? 66 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:50,040 [Dr. Rigby] So if want to put more Hubble beauty into your day, you want to go to 67 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,080 nasa.gov/hubble 68 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,090 [female reporter] Dr. Jane Rigby, thanks for joining us. 69 00:05:56,090 --> 00:05:56.957 [Dr. Rigby] A pleasure.