Hubble telescope namesake is remembered 57 years after his death
Published: April 24, 2020
The Hubble telescope was launched into orbit in April 1990 and has been sending spectacular images of far-away stars, galaxies and black holes since. It was made as part of a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency and has enabled scientists to determine the age of the universe.
The Houston Chronicle spoke to NASA astronomer Steven Hawley, who was among those present on space shuttle Discovery, carrying the Hubble telescope into space twenty years ago.
“I was definitely thinking this was going to be the most amazing thing astronomy has ever seen. I really felt that. I also was thinking about all of the people who had spent significant portions of their career working on Hubble so that we could launch it,“ he said.
Today, the Hubble telescope celebrates its 20th birthday and amidst the festivities, the space device’s namesake is also remembered.
Missouri-born Edwin Hubble was an influential American astronomer, who played a large role in changing our understanding of the universe and proving the existence of galaxies other than our own.
The scientist, born in 1889, lived to be 63 years old before dying of cerebral thrombosis in 1953. The condition is also defined as a spontaneous blood clot within a blood vessel in the brain. This clot develops due to a damaged wall within the vessel and eventually causes the sufferer to have a stroke.
Dick Clarke is among celebrities who have survived a stroke and Sharon Stone has battled her way through a brain aneurysm.
Click here to view a collection of images collected by the Hubble telescope since its launch.
Images: Wikimedia and NASA
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