The Search for Other Life Sustaining Worlds, Planets
The idea of putting a huge telescope in space was first put forward by Lyman Spitzer, an American astronomer, in 1946. Even the most powerful telescopes on earth are limited in their views of stars and planets by the earth's atmosphere, which blocks some light. In space, a telescope would be able to 
see objects much further away, and much clearer, than on earth.
Of course, in the 1940s the technology was not available for such a project. But in early 1970s, planning began. NASA, American's National Aeronautics and Space Administrator, did most of the work, but the European Space Agency was a junior partner. The bus-sized telescope, named after the great American astronomer Edwin Hubble, was finished in 1989. It had cost $1.5 billion to build, and would cost another $100 million a year to operate. It was taken into orbit by the space Shuttle Discovery in April 1990 on of the world's greatest scientific achievements.
But it didn't work. When astronomers looked at the first pictures from Hubble they realised something was strong. Some of the photographs it sent back were out of focus. Its 2.4 metre mirror had been made in the wrong shape - a terrible mistake, and very embarrassing for NASA.
Something had to be done - not only to save the telescope, but to save NASA, and American's space programme. NASA had made many mistakes in the '80s and '90s. It had never really recovered from the Challenged disaster of 1986, when a space shuttle exploded just after take off, killing all seven its astronauts. In mid-1993, the $1 billion Mars Observer space probe had stopped working just as it reached Mars, and Galileo, a probe to Jupiter, had also broken down. A lot of American politicians wanted to reduce NASA's activities and save money. So a new mission was planned to repair the Space Telescope - and it had to work.
The seven astronauts who would go up in the space shuttle Endeavour were carefully chosen. They were probably the most experience ever to fly into space. One, story Musgrave, was aged fifty-nine, and they had sixteen previous space flights between them.
Of course, in the 1940s the technology was not available for such a project. But in early 1970s, planning began. NASA, American's National Aeronautics and Space Administrator, did most of the work, but the European Space Agency was a junior partner. The bus-sized telescope, named after the great American astronomer Edwin Hubble, was finished in 1989. It had cost $1.5 billion to build, and would cost another $100 million a year to operate. It was taken into orbit by the space Shuttle Discovery in April 1990 on of the world's greatest scientific achievements.
But it didn't work. When astronomers looked at the first pictures from Hubble they realised something was strong. Some of the photographs it sent back were out of focus. Its 2.4 metre mirror had been made in the wrong shape - a terrible mistake, and very embarrassing for NASA.
Something had to be done - not only to save the telescope, but to save NASA, and American's space programme. NASA had made many mistakes in the '80s and '90s. It had never really recovered from the Challenged disaster of 1986, when a space shuttle exploded just after take off, killing all seven its astronauts. In mid-1993, the $1 billion Mars Observer space probe had stopped working just as it reached Mars, and Galileo, a probe to Jupiter, had also broken down. A lot of American politicians wanted to reduce NASA's activities and save money. So a new mission was planned to repair the Space Telescope - and it had to work.
The seven astronauts who would go up in the space shuttle Endeavour were carefully chosen. They were probably the most experience ever to fly into space. One, story Musgrave, was aged fifty-nine, and they had sixteen previous space flights between them.