Collecting and Sending Data

Hubble has two single cameras for pho­tographing large objects and tiny details. It has three other cameras that record infrared light. Hubble also has a spectrograph, which separates a beam of light into its separate wavelengths. The telescope can use this data to tell what elements are present in distant objects.

Data collected by Hubble is stored onboard within solid-state electronic data banks. These information banks, installed after Hubble’s initial launch by Shuttle astronauts, replaced the original tape recorders. The data is transmitted to Earth via a satellite system called the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. The satellites fly so low that they are able to maintain contact with ground control for 85 percent of their orbit. Information from Hubble is passed from the satellite ground station in New Mexico to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Hubble is expected to remain in use for some years. Its successor, the

О A 2005 image of the Crab Nebula is among the largest images that Hubble has ever produced. Assembled from twenty-four separate exposures, it also is the clearest image ever made of this colorful remnant of a supernova, or exploded star.

James Webb Space Telescope, is sched­uled for launch in 2013. Although more up-to-date than Hubble, the new tele­scope will observe only in infrared, not in visible light and ultraviolet light as Hubble does.