1 00:00:02,703 --> 00:00:04,863 Lift off of the Space Shuttle Discovery 2 00:00:06,273 --> 00:00:08,407 With the Hubble Space Telescope. 3 00:00:11,479 --> 00:00:14,046 CAPCOM, we have a go for release. 4 00:00:17,485 --> 00:00:20,419 It may be the boldest experiment ever undertaken in astronomy... 5 00:00:30,464 --> 00:00:34,033 with a legacy that will endure for centuries. 6 00:00:39,774 --> 00:00:43,976 You have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. 7 00:00:46,347 --> 00:00:50,649 The Hubble Space Telescope is probably the most scientifically 8 00:00:53,954 --> 00:00:57,089 Productive instrument in history. 9 00:01:00,761 --> 00:01:04,063 This single tool... the Hubble Space Telescope... 10 00:01:09,103 --> 00:01:12,638 Has revealed the size and age of the universe, 11 00:01:16,043 --> 00:01:18,324 The birthplace of stars, and the existence of black holes. 12 00:01:20,081 --> 00:01:24,416 It's helped us find planets like our own 13 00:01:26,020 --> 00:01:29,421 In far-off solar systems 14 00:01:32,893 --> 00:01:35,060 And a mysterious force... Dark energy... 15 00:01:39,166 --> 00:01:43,802 That makes up about 70% of the universe. 16 00:01:46,874 --> 00:01:49,975 The Hubble Space Telescope has completely changed the way 17 00:02:11,532 --> 00:02:14,500 That we as scientists understand the universe. 18 00:02:25,813 --> 00:02:27,893 The story of Hubble is a story of discovery. 19 00:02:30,918 --> 00:02:33,352 It's also the story 20 00:02:44,198 --> 00:02:49,168 Of one of the biggest blunders in the history of science. 21 00:02:53,007 --> 00:02:56,275 This is the moment we find out 22 00:03:04,618 --> 00:03:08,353 That we are doomed to failure. 23 00:03:13,894 --> 00:03:17,029 Is it possible that you could bring the telescope back? 24 00:03:21,869 --> 00:03:24,336 And of the genius and courage that saved the day. 25 00:03:28,542 --> 00:03:31,510 The moment of truth is coming. 26 00:03:33,714 --> 00:03:35,914 You can't run from it anymore, it's coming, there it is. 27 00:03:40,754 --> 00:03:42,688 Now, on Hubble's 25th anniversary, 28 00:03:46,794 --> 00:03:51,430 NOVA tells the remarkable tale 29 00:04:03,777 --> 00:04:08,113 Of how this magnificent machine was built, 30 00:04:15,055 --> 00:04:19,825 How it has solved some of our most enduring mysteries, 31 00:04:23,097 --> 00:04:24,730 And how it is showing us a universe 32 00:04:28,202 --> 00:04:30,269 As beautiful as it is astonishing. 33 00:04:34,008 --> 00:04:40,012 "Invisible Universe Revealed"... Right now on NOVA. 34 00:04:45,319 --> 00:04:49,521 Major funding for NOVA is provided by the following: 35 00:04:52,326 --> 00:04:55,460 At Cance NOVA and promoting public understanding of science. 36 00:04:59,867 --> 00:05:02,634 And the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 37 00:05:07,574 --> 00:05:12,110 And by: 38 00:05:16,684 --> 00:05:21,119 And Millicent Bell through: 39 00:05:27,361 --> 00:05:29,881 Since the dawn of humanity, we've looked to the heavens 40 00:05:33,967 --> 00:05:40,038 And wondered, how old is the universe? 41 00:05:45,512 --> 00:05:49,748 How many stars are there in the sky? 42 00:05:58,659 --> 00:06:02,928 Are there other planets out there like our own? 43 00:06:06,900 --> 00:06:09,901 But in the last 25 years, there's been a revolution... 44 00:06:12,806 --> 00:06:16,341 All because of a machine called Hubble. 45 00:06:19,580 --> 00:06:22,347 Traveling in space, 46 00:06:25,719 --> 00:06:31,823 High above the distortions of our atmosphere, 47 00:06:35,629 --> 00:06:38,497 Gives this giant telescope great power. 48 00:06:41,668 --> 00:06:44,836 It's the size of a school bus. 49 00:06:48,308 --> 00:06:52,043 It's traveling at 17,000 miles an hour. 50 00:06:54,248 --> 00:06:57,749 It's 300-and-something miles above your head. 51 00:07:06,527 --> 00:07:08,627 But in there is one of the most precise mirrors 52 00:07:16,470 --> 00:07:18,136 Mankind has ever built. 53 00:07:27,948 --> 00:07:30,308 Billions of times more sensitive than our own eyes, 54 00:07:31,452 --> 00:07:32,584 The space telescope 55 00:07:37,658 --> 00:07:39,925 Has literally brought the universe to us, 56 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,500 Making more than a million observations. 57 00:07:51,738 --> 00:07:56,675 One legendary image is called the "Pillars of Creation." 58 00:08:01,348 --> 00:08:03,548 It's a giant plume of gas and dust where stars are born. 59 00:08:06,086 --> 00:08:08,854 Our own sun probably formed in a place like this. 60 00:08:11,358 --> 00:08:14,078 The whole region is something like 400 trillion miles, 61 00:08:17,464 --> 00:08:19,464 So it's massive, it's huge. 62 00:08:23,203 --> 00:08:26,371 But still within the context of our own Milky Way, 63 00:08:28,375 --> 00:08:30,809 It's just one little part. 64 00:08:36,083 --> 00:08:39,751 Hubble has also captured pictures 65 00:08:44,224 --> 00:08:47,792 Of places where stars die. 66 00:08:53,834 --> 00:08:57,435 These are planetary nebulae... Remnants of expiring stars. 67 00:09:01,542 --> 00:09:03,875 They look like artworks in the heavens. 68 00:09:09,616 --> 00:09:12,851 Each one of them is different, like snowflakes. 69 00:09:19,159 --> 00:09:23,428 And these are some of the most spectacular images 70 00:09:27,334 --> 00:09:32,170 That Hubble has produced. 71 00:09:34,441 --> 00:09:38,243 Hubble has shown us that black holes are real. 72 00:09:42,449 --> 00:09:44,549 A giant one sits at the center of our galaxy 73 00:09:48,822 --> 00:09:50,422 And nearly every other we know. 74 00:09:52,693 --> 00:09:54,693 It's discovered the age of the universe 75 00:09:59,566 --> 00:10:01,533 And that there are more stars in the heavens 76 00:10:04,004 --> 00:10:07,472 Than grains of sand on all the beaches and deserts 77 00:10:10,877 --> 00:10:13,912 Of the world combined. 78 00:10:17,117 --> 00:10:22,220 Over the past 25 years, 79 00:10:24,458 --> 00:10:28,493 Hubble has told us a story of creation, destruction, 80 00:10:31,898 --> 00:10:34,666 And of vast, new mysteries that beckon our curiosity. 81 00:10:36,436 --> 00:10:38,636 But putting it in space long seemed an impossible dream, 82 00:10:40,273 --> 00:10:41,833 Even to those who took on the challenge. 83 00:10:45,646 --> 00:10:48,166 I started out in optical astronomy and spectroscopy. 84 00:10:48,649 --> 00:10:50,982 But as a woman in my generation, 85 00:10:55,489 --> 00:10:57,789 I could not get tenure at a research institution. 86 00:11:00,394 --> 00:11:02,694 In 1959, when NASA was formed, 87 00:11:05,499 --> 00:11:08,033 One of the men there asked me if I knew anyone 88 00:11:09,803 --> 00:11:12,537 Who would like to set up a program in space astronomy. 89 00:11:14,508 --> 00:11:18,109 And I decided that the idea 90 00:11:22,816 --> 00:11:25,717 Of influencing astronomy for 50 years 91 00:11:28,955 --> 00:11:31,289 Was just more than I could resist, so I took the job. 92 00:11:33,260 --> 00:11:37,128 Astronomer Nancy Roman is known as the mother of the Hubble. 93 00:11:39,399 --> 00:11:42,167 She worked on its design and development for nearly 25 years. 94 00:11:45,605 --> 00:11:47,725 If I brought anything to it, it was perseverance 95 00:11:49,443 --> 00:11:51,109 And belief that it was possible. 96 00:11:54,014 --> 00:11:57,082 The idea of a space telescope 97 00:12:01,588 --> 00:12:05,056 Was first seriously proposed in 1946 98 00:12:07,494 --> 00:12:11,763 By Princeton scientist Lyman Spitzer. 99 00:12:19,706 --> 00:12:21,506 He was the scientific visionary, 100 00:12:23,977 --> 00:12:26,177 And Roman was the force that pushed this vision forward, 101 00:12:30,150 --> 00:12:35,286 Decades before the technology was up to the task. 102 00:12:39,392 --> 00:12:44,729 Even into the mid-'60s, 103 00:12:46,867 --> 00:12:49,701 Just getting a rocket safely into space was a challenge. 104 00:12:51,972 --> 00:12:53,571 There were a lot of failures. 105 00:12:55,542 --> 00:12:56,942 We were babies learning how to walk. 106 00:12:59,513 --> 00:13:03,448 And we didn't always succeed. 107 00:13:05,152 --> 00:13:09,053 Babies fall down, 108 00:13:12,626 --> 00:13:14,826 And we did too. 109 00:13:16,663 --> 00:13:18,423 But however far-fetched at the time, 110 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,400 The lure of getting a telescope 111 00:13:25,539 --> 00:13:27,820 Above the distortion of the earth's atmosphere was strong. 112 00:13:31,178 --> 00:13:32,911 The major challenge facing astronomers 113 00:13:35,749 --> 00:13:40,218 Was the twinkle of the stars. 114 00:13:47,427 --> 00:13:51,129 Twinkling stars are an inspiring source of poetry, 115 00:13:55,802 --> 00:13:58,269 But in terms of observing stars, it's not very good. 116 00:14:02,843 --> 00:14:07,378 If you can imagine 117 00:14:10,350 --> 00:14:13,017 You're swimming on the bottom of the swimming pool 118 00:14:17,090 --> 00:14:19,490 And you look up and you see the distortion. 119 00:14:24,064 --> 00:14:29,601 It's like a fun house mirror. 120 00:14:32,572 --> 00:14:34,105 That's what it's like 121 00:14:35,842 --> 00:14:37,602 To study stars from the surface of the Earth. 122 00:14:42,749 --> 00:14:46,918 The atmosphere is just like that water in that pool. 123 00:14:49,222 --> 00:14:53,925 It sloshes around and moves and distorts the image. 124 00:14:55,595 --> 00:14:58,897 But when you come up out of the water, everything's clear. 125 00:15:01,835 --> 00:15:04,669 That's exactly what happens 126 00:15:08,541 --> 00:15:11,509 When a telescope gets above the atmosphere. 127 00:15:13,013 --> 00:15:16,114 In the pristine vacuum of space, light can travel 128 00:15:18,051 --> 00:15:21,152 For billions of light years, undisturbed. 129 00:15:24,357 --> 00:15:28,726 The atmosphere not only distorts light, 130 00:15:32,832 --> 00:15:36,067 It prevents some from reaching the ground at all. 131 00:15:39,005 --> 00:15:42,573 So for those reasons, astronomers for a long time 132 00:15:45,912 --> 00:15:49,514 Were eager to get something outside. 133 00:15:53,286 --> 00:15:55,820 And so I got a committee together, 134 00:16:00,527 --> 00:16:02,127 And that was the beginning of the Hubble. 135 00:16:04,397 --> 00:16:08,366 The space telescope was named for Edwin Hubble, 136 00:16:10,270 --> 00:16:13,538 The great astronomer who did much of his pioneering work 137 00:16:18,545 --> 00:16:21,713 In the 1920s at Mt. Wilson Observatory in California. 138 00:16:24,884 --> 00:16:26,985 In those days, our own galaxy, the Milky Way, 139 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,961 Was considered the entirety of the universe. 140 00:16:38,465 --> 00:16:41,065 Nearly everyone, even Einstein, believed the universe 141 00:16:42,769 --> 00:16:44,849 Had existed forever in its present state... 142 00:16:52,679 --> 00:16:54,879 That it was eternal and unchanging. 143 00:16:58,385 --> 00:17:01,419 But Hubble would prove them all wrong. 144 00:17:03,256 --> 00:17:06,190 He began by figuring out 145 00:17:08,962 --> 00:17:10,962 How far away the stars he was seeing actually were. 146 00:17:13,066 --> 00:17:14,999 At the time of Edwin Hubble, 147 00:17:17,470 --> 00:17:20,872 It was hard to measure distances. 148 00:17:23,576 --> 00:17:25,510 It still is even today. 149 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,149 It's difficult to know if a star appears bright 150 00:17:42,572 --> 00:17:44,338 Because it is actually bright 151 00:17:48,711 --> 00:17:52,179 Or simply because it is close to us. 152 00:17:55,618 --> 00:17:57,318 So Hubble searched for a rare type of star 153 00:17:58,721 --> 00:18:00,521 Called a Cepheid variable. 154 00:18:02,558 --> 00:18:04,959 Cepheids pulse at a known brightness, 155 00:18:08,264 --> 00:18:12,266 So by measuring the amount of light he could see, 156 00:18:15,304 --> 00:18:20,474 He could calculate how far away the star actually was. 157 00:18:23,045 --> 00:18:25,245 In October 1923, 158 00:18:28,718 --> 00:18:32,519 Hubble found a Cepheid in a gaseous cluster of stars 159 00:18:35,324 --> 00:18:37,558 Then called the Andromeda nebula. 160 00:18:43,065 --> 00:18:45,766 It yielded a shocking discovery. 161 00:18:47,403 --> 00:18:53,073 When he actually did the calculations, 162 00:18:55,678 --> 00:18:58,212 He discovered Andromeda 163 00:19:01,217 --> 00:19:03,057 Was roughly a million light years away from us, 164 00:19:05,254 --> 00:19:07,388 Which is outside our galaxy. 165 00:19:11,394 --> 00:19:16,263 Andromeda was its own galaxy. 166 00:19:20,536 --> 00:19:22,670 Oh, there are other galaxies out there, 167 00:19:25,441 --> 00:19:28,942 And we're just one of them. 168 00:19:30,946 --> 00:19:34,048 For the first time in history, there was evidence 169 00:19:37,887 --> 00:19:43,757 That our universe stretched far beyond the Milky Way. 170 00:19:48,130 --> 00:19:52,166 But then what he did was he measured the speed 171 00:19:56,138 --> 00:20:01,308 Of a whole bunch of these galaxies. 172 00:20:05,781 --> 00:20:07,221 Edwin Hubble measured speed 173 00:20:08,718 --> 00:20:10,484 By looking at the light the galaxies emitted. 174 00:20:15,491 --> 00:20:18,125 He knew if the galaxy was moving toward him, 175 00:20:19,729 --> 00:20:21,295 The waves would shorten 176 00:20:23,499 --> 00:20:26,433 And shift to the blue part of the spectrum. 177 00:20:31,006 --> 00:20:35,876 If it was moving away, 178 00:20:37,313 --> 00:20:39,113 The waves would lengthen and shift to the red. 179 00:20:40,182 --> 00:20:42,516 Every distant galaxy Hubble looked at, 180 00:20:45,221 --> 00:20:47,187 He saw the light from it being red-shifted, 181 00:20:49,658 --> 00:20:51,978 Which meant everything is moving away from everything else. 182 00:20:52,962 --> 00:20:56,663 And he found the further away they were, 183 00:21:00,503 --> 00:21:03,737 The faster they were going. 184 00:21:05,341 --> 00:21:09,910 In fact, the universe itself was expanding, 185 00:21:17,219 --> 00:21:21,155 Stretching the light from the galaxies. 186 00:21:24,527 --> 00:21:28,362 Edwin Hubble had changed 187 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:43,410 Our understanding of the cosmos forever. 188 00:21:49,685 --> 00:21:53,120 The whole universe was clearly expanding. 189 00:21:55,891 --> 00:21:59,760 And so this was the discovery 190 00:22:02,731 --> 00:22:08,802 Of the expansion of the universe. 191 00:22:13,142 --> 00:22:15,776 You know, which Einstein said, "Well, that's crazy, right?" 192 00:22:18,047 --> 00:22:23,350 The discovery of the expansion of the universe of course 193 00:22:26,388 --> 00:22:28,428 Was a very strong piece of evidence for a beginning. 194 00:22:30,693 --> 00:22:33,727 If everything is now expanding, you can run this backwards 195 00:22:35,631 --> 00:22:38,899 And see that everything should have started 196 00:22:43,105 --> 00:22:45,239 From a certain point or singularity, 197 00:22:49,178 --> 00:22:50,744 What we today call a Big Bang. 198 00:22:55,618 --> 00:23:00,954 That was pretty radical 199 00:23:02,925 --> 00:23:04,845 And mind-blowing stuff back in the '20s and '30s, 200 00:23:06,829 --> 00:23:09,229 And some people today even find it mind-blowing. 201 00:23:09,231 --> 00:23:14,001 K 202 00:23:14,003 --> 00:23:16,563 Hubble's discovery opened up the modern era of astronomy 203 00:23:17,873 --> 00:23:20,154 And raised huge questions, like "How old is the universe?" 204 00:23:21,310 --> 00:23:23,430 But astronomers couldn't see clearly and deeply enough 205 00:23:26,248 --> 00:23:28,782 Into the cosmos, so the mystery would endure for decades. 206 00:23:32,288 --> 00:23:34,968 Determining the age of the universe 207 00:23:42,531 --> 00:23:44,698 Was definitely one of the key goals 208 00:23:50,940 --> 00:23:52,660 Of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. 209 00:23:54,410 --> 00:23:58,111 Astronomers used to have fistfights 210 00:24:07,890 --> 00:24:12,993 Whether the universe was ten billion years 211 00:24:18,100 --> 00:24:20,133 Or 20 billion years old 212 00:24:25,341 --> 00:24:28,375 Until we launched the Hubble Telescope. 213 00:24:31,513 --> 00:24:33,393 But first, they would have to build it. 214 00:24:36,118 --> 00:24:37,584 I realized that 215 00:24:39,922 --> 00:24:44,157 My job at NASA to a large extent was salesmanship. 216 00:24:45,761 --> 00:24:47,921 And it was a particular problem with Congress. 217 00:24:52,601 --> 00:24:55,369 We can cut the space program sharply. 218 00:25:01,443 --> 00:25:08,382 Congress has already cut that $400 million 219 00:25:10,786 --> 00:25:15,222 And I think we can cut it a billion dollars, 220 00:25:19,428 --> 00:25:21,762 And we should cut it a billion dollars. 221 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,801 Proxmire was quite famous as a senator 222 00:25:30,439 --> 00:25:33,407 Of picking out projects that he thought were stupid. 223 00:25:37,813 --> 00:25:41,114 We have a war going on in Vietnam. 224 00:25:43,485 --> 00:25:46,953 And he asked NASA why the American taxpayer 225 00:25:49,058 --> 00:25:50,891 Should pay for something like the Hubble. 226 00:25:54,997 --> 00:25:57,998 And I came up with the answer that 227 00:25:59,802 --> 00:26:02,335 For the cost of a night at the movies, 228 00:26:03,605 --> 00:26:05,845 Every American would have 15 years of exciting discovery. 229 00:26:07,309 --> 00:26:09,643 Finally, after more than a decade, 230 00:26:11,447 --> 00:26:16,516 The plans were approved in 1977. 231 00:26:19,154 --> 00:26:21,755 Hubble's power would come from an eight-foot wide mirror. 232 00:26:29,998 --> 00:26:33,800 It would gather light from across the universe. 233 00:26:37,439 --> 00:26:40,941 To magnify the sky and see tiny details, 234 00:26:42,511 --> 00:26:44,391 It would need a long distance to focus the light 235 00:26:45,781 --> 00:26:47,614 And give a clear image. 236 00:26:50,719 --> 00:26:54,988 But a space telescope needs to be compact, 237 00:26:58,293 --> 00:27:00,093 So Hubble would use a second mirror 238 00:27:04,967 --> 00:27:07,287 To further magnify the light and focus it onto the cameras. 239 00:27:11,340 --> 00:27:14,541 For it to work, the mirrors would have to be perfect. 240 00:27:19,848 --> 00:27:21,928 Hubble was the most precise optical mirror ever made. 241 00:27:24,319 --> 00:27:30,490 No place along its surface 242 00:27:33,328 --> 00:27:35,996 Could have deviated from a perfect curve 243 00:27:37,366 --> 00:27:40,066 By more than a millionth of an inch. 244 00:27:42,571 --> 00:27:45,251 An optics company, Perkin-Elmer, was chosen to do the work, 245 00:27:46,408 --> 00:27:48,888 In part because it had already made mirrors for spy satellites. 246 00:27:52,314 --> 00:27:54,881 They told NASA, 247 00:27:57,019 --> 00:27:59,379 "We know how to do this, and this technology is proprietary. 248 00:28:00,489 --> 00:28:02,088 "We are not going to let you come in 249 00:28:08,163 --> 00:28:11,631 And watch what we are doing." 250 00:28:14,436 --> 00:28:17,804 So NASA got a rather limited view 251 00:28:21,743 --> 00:28:26,980 Of what was going on in that little group. 252 00:28:30,052 --> 00:28:32,892 They had very, very precise instruments 253 00:28:40,495 --> 00:28:43,263 That they designed just for polishing this mirror. 254 00:28:46,735 --> 00:28:49,603 They had to work at night 255 00:28:53,575 --> 00:28:55,455 So that the vibration of cars in the parking lot 256 00:28:56,478 --> 00:28:58,712 Wouldn't cause problems with the polishing equipment. 257 00:29:06,655 --> 00:29:12,158 They had to isolate it and float it on a table 258 00:29:14,263 --> 00:29:17,364 So any vibrations from the building wouldn't come in. 259 00:29:19,001 --> 00:29:21,835 And this program was over budget, behind schedule. 260 00:29:24,573 --> 00:29:26,973 They were desperate to get the telescope built and flown. 261 00:29:32,047 --> 00:29:35,682 Perkin-Elmer's own measurements 262 00:29:42,591 --> 00:29:46,159 Showed discrepancies in the surface of the mirror, 263 00:29:47,663 --> 00:29:49,362 But this was never passed on to NASA. 264 00:29:52,601 --> 00:29:55,635 The telescope was declared ready for launch, 265 00:29:57,105 --> 00:30:00,573 A disaster waiting to happen. 266 00:30:30,105 --> 00:30:32,345 The hopes and dreams of the world's astronomers 267 00:30:34,443 --> 00:30:36,810 Were with us that day at Cape Canaveral. 268 00:30:41,416 --> 00:30:43,083 The last time astronomers 269 00:30:52,327 --> 00:30:56,162 Leapt a factor of ten in observing capability 270 00:30:57,999 --> 00:31:01,267 Was when Galileo, in 1610, instead of using his eye, 271 00:31:08,677 --> 00:31:12,912 Put the telescope in front of his eye. 272 00:31:17,619 --> 00:31:20,887 And liftoff of the Space Shuttle Discovery 273 00:31:24,526 --> 00:31:26,886 With the Hubble Space Telescope, our window on the universe! 274 00:31:28,730 --> 00:31:32,132 All increases in capability after Galileo were incremental. 275 00:31:37,939 --> 00:31:41,107 They weren't leaps of a factor of ten, until Hubble. 276 00:31:44,646 --> 00:31:48,381 Mission Control, Houston. 277 00:31:50,485 --> 00:31:55,789 Roger all, Discovery. 278 00:31:58,226 --> 00:32:01,995 We thought, "Let's go, we're off to the races!" 279 00:32:07,602 --> 00:32:11,004 Little did we know the time bomb that was ticking. 280 00:32:13,074 --> 00:32:15,375 Little did we know. 281 00:32:24,019 --> 00:32:26,319 Discover Houston. 282 00:32:28,924 --> 00:32:32,058 You have a go to open the doors. 283 00:32:34,029 --> 00:32:36,469 After nearly 30 years of planning, on April 25, 1990, 284 00:32:38,033 --> 00:32:40,767 Astronauts used a robotic arm 285 00:32:43,905 --> 00:32:45,665 To deploy the Hubble space telescope in orbit 286 00:32:47,676 --> 00:32:50,176 380 miles above the earth. 287 00:32:56,051 --> 00:33:00,353 CAPCOM, we have a go for release. 288 00:33:03,525 --> 00:33:07,594 We concur, Charlie. 289 00:33:12,968 --> 00:33:15,468 Mission control, Houston confirms, 290 00:33:20,075 --> 00:33:24,878 The Hubble Space Telescope is released. 291 00:33:34,923 --> 00:33:37,390 With the telescope finally in place, 292 00:33:40,228 --> 00:33:42,729 Everyone was excited to see what it could do. 293 00:33:44,866 --> 00:33:47,826 make final adjustments before we get to see 294 00:33:53,441 --> 00:33:57,710 The clearest pictures ever seen in the history of astronomy. 295 00:34:01,750 --> 00:34:05,184 Nose gear touch down. 296 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:16,663 But when the first images arrived, 297 00:34:19,734 --> 00:34:22,302 They weren't quite what the scientists had expected. 298 00:34:25,106 --> 00:34:28,408 When they first saw these images 299 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:35,582 They just assumed the telescope wasn't in focus. 300 00:34:38,820 --> 00:34:41,421 They tried to move the focus backwards and forwards, 301 00:34:48,129 --> 00:34:51,364 But the light kept being blurred like it was always out of focus. 302 00:34:54,436 --> 00:34:56,235 It was really quite a shock. 303 00:35:01,376 --> 00:35:06,312 We were very worried. 304 00:35:08,183 --> 00:35:11,584 I just couldn't believe it. 305 00:35:21,062 --> 00:35:23,463 It definitely was a huge shock. 306 00:35:30,005 --> 00:35:33,206 We were supposed to revolutionize astronomy. 307 00:35:36,945 --> 00:35:38,705 How is it that we can't focus this telescope? 308 00:35:40,048 --> 00:35:41,814 How is this even possible? 309 00:35:45,220 --> 00:35:47,981 After weeks of investigation, horrified astronomers suspected 310 00:35:49,524 --> 00:35:52,525 Something was wrong with the mirror. 311 00:35:57,298 --> 00:35:59,778 This is my logbook that I kept during the early days of Hubble. 312 00:36:02,537 --> 00:36:05,138 Daily, we went to meetings, and we kept a record 313 00:36:06,941 --> 00:36:08,574 Of everything that was happening. 314 00:36:10,445 --> 00:36:12,345 Here is a particularly interesting day. 315 00:36:15,116 --> 00:36:18,284 We were told about the actuators on the back of the mirror. 316 00:36:20,622 --> 00:36:22,822 The actuators might be able to fix small errors 317 00:36:25,293 --> 00:36:27,574 In the surface of the mirror by pushing and pulling on it, 318 00:36:29,497 --> 00:36:31,937 So this says, "One half wave is 7 times the dynamic range," 319 00:36:35,704 --> 00:36:39,405 Meaning the problem is seven times worse than they could fix. 320 00:36:43,044 --> 00:36:45,812 And here's a little note I wrote: 321 00:36:48,283 --> 00:36:51,651 "This is the moment we find out that we are doomed to failure!" 322 00:36:59,594 --> 00:37:03,763 Sandra Faber and her colleagues 323 00:37:06,101 --> 00:37:07,834 Realized that the problem was massive 324 00:37:10,038 --> 00:37:13,339 And lay at the very heart of the telescope. 325 00:37:15,076 --> 00:37:16,476 The Hubble telescope 326 00:37:19,781 --> 00:37:21,701 Has a big primary mirror that collects the light, 327 00:37:24,652 --> 00:37:27,754 And then there's a secondary mirror 328 00:37:29,657 --> 00:37:32,225 Which reflects the light back down to the detector. 329 00:37:34,462 --> 00:37:36,929 So if everything is working, every zone of the primary mirror 330 00:37:39,033 --> 00:37:41,314 Should come to a focus at exactly the same location. 331 00:37:45,540 --> 00:37:47,840 With a single focal point, 332 00:37:53,047 --> 00:37:57,784 A star would appear crisp and bright. 333 00:37:59,788 --> 00:38:01,354 But this wasn't what was happening. 334 00:38:03,191 --> 00:38:04,711 As I looked at those star images, 335 00:38:06,094 --> 00:38:09,462 I could see that the problem with Hubble 336 00:38:11,065 --> 00:38:14,033 Was the rays are coming to a focus at different points. 337 00:38:17,672 --> 00:38:21,607 And that is the classic problem called spherical aberration. 338 00:38:26,781 --> 00:38:29,582 This is the actual set of images that my team presented 339 00:38:34,122 --> 00:38:36,082 That convinced people of the spherical aberration. 340 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:44,363 The top set of images is simulated with software, 341 00:38:48,136 --> 00:38:50,837 The bottom is the actual images, and the fact that they match 342 00:38:53,374 --> 00:38:56,742 Is what shows that we really understood what was going on. 343 00:39:00,582 --> 00:39:04,083 That was the kiss of death. 344 00:39:07,055 --> 00:39:11,891 It was like a bullet to the head. 345 00:39:14,095 --> 00:39:16,395 So I said, "Well, what are we going to do?" 346 00:39:17,966 --> 00:39:20,566 Should we declare this telescope to be junk and just end it? 347 00:39:22,804 --> 00:39:26,138 Can we use it in its present form 348 00:39:27,542 --> 00:39:29,041 And get something out of it? 349 00:39:30,979 --> 00:39:34,280 Can we fix it? 350 00:39:36,351 --> 00:39:39,785 And all of those thoughts were running through people's minds 351 00:39:41,256 --> 00:39:42,936 In those fateful days after this discovery. 352 00:39:45,526 --> 00:39:49,829 Somehow, the mirror had been polished too flat, 353 00:39:54,402 --> 00:39:57,770 And there might not be anything anyone could do to fix it. 354 00:40:02,377 --> 00:40:04,644 It was probably early June 355 00:40:07,782 --> 00:40:09,982 When people starting saying the "S" word... 356 00:40:14,656 --> 00:40:16,188 Spherical aberration. 357 00:40:18,493 --> 00:40:22,728 That lead up to the infamous press conference 358 00:40:25,166 --> 00:40:27,500 That I'll never forget as long as I live. 359 00:40:31,706 --> 00:40:34,240 What might have made this happen? 360 00:40:37,512 --> 00:40:39,412 Do you know for sure that that the aberration 361 00:40:41,582 --> 00:40:45,918 Is in the primary mirror, the secondary mirror, both? 362 00:40:48,456 --> 00:40:50,756 Why wasn't it caught on the ground? 363 00:40:53,962 --> 00:40:57,296 This was one of the most expensive science projects 364 00:40:59,767 --> 00:41:02,568 That NASA had ever undertaken, and it was a techno-turkey. 365 00:41:04,639 --> 00:41:06,799 Is it possible that you could bring the telescope back? 366 00:41:11,012 --> 00:41:12,979 It was an absolute disaster. 367 00:41:15,383 --> 00:41:18,985 And so it became life and death for NASA itself. 368 00:41:21,856 --> 00:41:24,056 It was the national joke. 369 00:41:26,861 --> 00:41:28,941 We went from being the heroes of the universe 370 00:41:30,565 --> 00:41:33,099 To the Mr. Magoos, 371 00:41:34,669 --> 00:41:36,989 And being associated with the telescope was difficult. 372 00:41:40,708 --> 00:41:44,176 A NASA board of inquiry searched for clues to what went wrong. 373 00:41:47,982 --> 00:41:50,462 Inspecting every piece of every tool used to polish the mirror, 374 00:41:53,521 --> 00:41:58,090 They found the smoking gun: a few missing chips of paint. 375 00:42:00,428 --> 00:42:03,696 They had thrown off the laser-guided measuring tool 376 00:42:06,501 --> 00:42:09,735 Used to shape the mirror. 377 00:42:14,108 --> 00:42:18,644 Everything was off about a millimeter. 378 00:42:23,117 --> 00:42:25,597 And so they polished the edges of the mirror a little too flat, 379 00:42:29,824 --> 00:42:33,492 About 1/50th of the thickness of a human hair. 380 00:42:36,464 --> 00:42:40,900 Many feared this meant Hubble was dead, 381 00:42:44,839 --> 00:42:49,475 Since the mirror was hard to access 382 00:42:54,682 --> 00:42:58,951 And impossible to remove in space. 383 00:43:00,922 --> 00:43:03,689 Sandra Faber was on the panel tasked with finding a solution. 384 00:43:06,761 --> 00:43:08,281 A blue ribbon committee convened. 385 00:43:09,797 --> 00:43:11,263 People were thinking about everything 386 00:43:14,702 --> 00:43:18,170 From bringing the telescope down 387 00:43:20,708 --> 00:43:22,668 To having astronauts go up in orbit 388 00:43:27,982 --> 00:43:31,016 And swim down into the tube 389 00:43:34,088 --> 00:43:36,488 And install correcting optics in front of the primary mirror. 390 00:43:40,194 --> 00:43:43,329 I called the report, jokingly, 391 00:43:45,066 --> 00:43:46,832 "50 bad ways to fix a space telescope." 392 00:43:48,936 --> 00:43:51,971 The best idea was to put small corrective mirrors 393 00:43:54,108 --> 00:43:55,908 In front of the cameras and other instruments. 394 00:43:59,113 --> 00:44:04,483 But the problem was getting the mirrors inside the telescope. 395 00:44:08,789 --> 00:44:11,590 Jim Crocker was an engineer in charge of Hubble operations. 396 00:44:14,462 --> 00:44:17,563 We got to the point where it's like, 397 00:44:19,367 --> 00:44:21,500 "We're kind of running out of ideas here 398 00:44:24,672 --> 00:44:28,908 "and not sure what to do. 399 00:44:30,811 --> 00:44:34,480 "There's a lot of ways to fix this, 400 00:44:38,986 --> 00:44:41,320 There's just no way to perform them in space." 401 00:44:49,297 --> 00:44:51,997 I actually came back from the meeting 402 00:44:55,536 --> 00:45:00,139 And went back to the hotel that we were staying at 403 00:45:02,476 --> 00:45:07,012 And I thought, 404 00:45:10,785 --> 00:45:14,553 "Well, I'll take a shower before we go out to dinner." 405 00:45:17,792 --> 00:45:20,159 The showerhead is on a sliding rod, 406 00:45:24,298 --> 00:45:26,498 And the head goes up and down. 407 00:45:33,541 --> 00:45:35,975 And so I turned the water on and I slid it up, 408 00:45:38,913 --> 00:45:43,616 And then it was like it clicked. 409 00:45:47,622 --> 00:45:50,923 If we packaged the mirrors into a little robotic arm 410 00:45:55,363 --> 00:45:57,162 And we put that arm into a new instrument, 411 00:46:00,768 --> 00:46:03,402 You could raise this mirror up and flip the little mirrors out 412 00:46:09,010 --> 00:46:11,543 In front of each of the other instruments 413 00:46:14,415 --> 00:46:16,115 And correct them all. 414 00:46:20,554 --> 00:46:23,122 And I thought, "Huh, that'll work." 415 00:46:26,494 --> 00:46:28,454 NASA agreed and immediately started work. 416 00:46:29,897 --> 00:46:32,798 Astronauts would install an instrument called Costar. 417 00:46:34,068 --> 00:46:35,868 Once in place, its four arms would flip out, 418 00:46:40,474 --> 00:46:42,808 Like the showerhead, 419 00:46:47,548 --> 00:46:49,315 And essentially give Hubble glasses. 420 00:46:51,118 --> 00:46:53,018 But no one had ever done anything 421 00:46:56,090 --> 00:46:57,589 Remotely this intricate in space. 422 00:47:00,795 --> 00:47:02,155 When I got the job, 423 00:47:02,463 --> 00:47:04,303 I didn't smile and I didn't celebrate anything. 424 00:47:08,669 --> 00:47:09,669 I says, "Here we go. 425 00:47:12,606 --> 00:47:14,039 I'll do the best I can with this." 426 00:47:16,243 --> 00:47:17,523 I told NASA and I told the media, 427 00:47:19,714 --> 00:47:21,513 They're all saying we're going to fix it, 428 00:47:24,852 --> 00:47:27,486 And I told them, "I don't know if we're going to fix it." 429 00:47:30,124 --> 00:47:32,891 Musgrave and a team of astronauts 430 00:47:35,262 --> 00:47:38,063 Trained for 20 months preparing to fix Hubble. 431 00:47:44,638 --> 00:47:48,807 We choreograph this dance down to every finger and every toe. 432 00:47:51,645 --> 00:47:56,181 You know, a great ballerina, it's every finger and every toe. 433 00:47:59,787 --> 00:48:02,788 You can't have something messed up. 434 00:48:06,427 --> 00:48:10,696 You can't exactly mimic what you're going to do there. 435 00:48:15,169 --> 00:48:17,049 So in your imagination, you watch yourself work. 436 00:48:22,476 --> 00:48:24,476 Then it is practice, 437 00:48:26,280 --> 00:48:28,040 So that you can pull it off when you have to. 438 00:48:31,152 --> 00:48:33,318 To simulate working in space, 439 00:48:35,289 --> 00:48:37,723 The astronauts spent 400 hours underwater 440 00:48:43,664 --> 00:48:46,231 Rehearsing on a mock-up of Hubble. 441 00:48:48,936 --> 00:48:51,737 I think the most incredible thing about this 442 00:48:53,674 --> 00:48:57,709 Is that the astronauts were prepared to risk their lives 443 00:48:59,513 --> 00:49:05,384 To go and fix a scientific instrument. 444 00:49:11,759 --> 00:49:14,793 We know the shuttle was not a perfect machine. 445 00:49:20,434 --> 00:49:23,335 After all, there's been two disasters. 446 00:49:27,775 --> 00:49:31,310 I had a one-in-ten chance of dying. 447 00:49:40,588 --> 00:49:42,354 I don't like those odds. 448 00:49:46,026 --> 00:49:49,428 But it's not a matter of fear. 449 00:49:52,766 --> 00:49:55,701 You've decided ahead of time it's what you do in life. 450 00:49:59,440 --> 00:50:03,842 And we have lift-off. 451 00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:08,580 Lift-off of the Space Shuttle Endeavour 452 00:50:10,751 --> 00:50:12,851 On an ambitious mission 453 00:50:15,756 --> 00:50:17,489 To service the Hubble Space Telescope. 454 00:50:18,959 --> 00:50:21,159 In eight minutes, 455 00:50:24,231 --> 00:50:30,769 They went from zero to 17,500 miles an hour. 456 00:50:35,342 --> 00:50:39,611 It's rough, and the vibrations are very rough. 457 00:50:44,685 --> 00:50:48,220 It's a butterfly bolted onto a bullet, 458 00:50:54,028 --> 00:50:56,094 You know, that's what's going on. 459 00:51:01,168 --> 00:51:04,328 It takes the crew two days to catch up to the telescope. 460 00:51:11,211 --> 00:51:14,079 As soon as I caught that bright star out there, 461 00:51:20,621 --> 00:51:24,590 It had to be Hubble, nothing else. 462 00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:28,393 The moment of truth is coming. 463 00:51:30,631 --> 00:51:33,599 You can't run from it anymore, it's coming. 464 00:51:39,573 --> 00:51:41,340 There it is. 465 00:51:46,513 --> 00:51:51,283 Endeavor, keep monitors disabled, 466 00:51:52,553 --> 00:51:54,987 And you've got a go for capture. 467 00:51:57,124 --> 00:51:59,391 The crew will do five spacewalks... 468 00:52:05,132 --> 00:52:07,372 At the time, the most ever attempted on a single mission. 469 00:52:07,801 --> 00:52:09,201 Okay, visors as required. 470 00:52:15,209 --> 00:52:17,843 On the third walk, Musgrave and astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman 471 00:52:31,258 --> 00:52:33,425 Need to replace Hubble's wide field camera. 472 00:52:35,763 --> 00:52:38,163 It was designed to capture a broad range of light frequencies 473 00:52:40,167 --> 00:52:42,034 Across a large area of the sky. 474 00:53:03,023 --> 00:53:05,791 Oh, look at that baby, beautiful spanking new! 475 00:53:10,864 --> 00:53:13,799 The most critical moment