During May 2009, the Hubble Space Telescope was subject to the most intense overhaul of its life with astronauts from the Space Shuttle Atlantis performing engineering feats far beyond what was originally envisaged for orbital servicing. Instruments were repaired and replaced during the most complex human process that had yet been performed in space. The telescope is now some hundred times more powerful than when it was launched in 1990. This is the story of Hubble, looking back on the revolution in astrophysics that it has achieved and forward to what it is achieving now in its probings of the early history of the universe to the study of the atmospheres of extrasolar planets.
On 23rd June at 7.30pm
Venue: Art and Design Academy, Johnson Foundation Auditorium (see Art & Design Academy, L3 5YD