posted 04-24-2014 06:04 AM               

Hubble Space Telescope instruments star in new Smithsonian exhibit

Almost a quarter of a century after the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit, two of the observatory's most famous instruments have landed in a new exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

On Wednesday (April 23), the Washington, D.C. institution debuted "Repairing Hubble" in its Space Hall. The display, which is positioned under the full-size structural dynamic test mockup for the Hubble, features the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) and the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) instruments that were returned to Earth by the space shuttle after the final Hubble servicing mission in 2009.

"The achievements associated with WFPC2 and COSTAR date from 1993, when repairs accomplished on the first servicing mission enabled the telescope to function in an optimum way," J.R. "Jack" Dailey, director of the National Air and Space Museum, said at a reception marking the exhibit opening Wednesday. "The exhibition tells the story of the Hubble by tracing the brilliant technology it required and showing the human skill and courage that led to its long and successful life."