The Universe in a Mirror (eBook)

The Saga of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Visionaries Who Built It

Robert Zimmerman (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2010
320 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-1-4008-3476-1 (ISBN)

Infos

The Hubble Space Telescope has produced the most stunning images of the cosmos humanity has ever seen. It has transformed our understanding of the universe around us, revealing new information about its age and evolution, the life cycle of stars, and the very existence of black holes, among other startling discoveries. But it took an amazing amount of work and perseverance to get the first space telescope up and running. The Universe in a Mirror tells the story of this telescope and the visionaries responsible for its extraordinary accomplishments. Robert Zimmerman takes readers behind the scenes of one of the most ambitious scientific instruments ever sent into space. After World War II, astronomer Lyman Spitzer and a handful of scientists waged a fifty-year struggle to build the first space telescope capable of seeing beyond Earth's atmospheric veil. Zimmerman shows how many of the telescope's advocates sacrificed careers and family to get it launched, and how others devoted their lives to Hubble only to have their hopes and reputations shattered when its mirror was found to be flawed. This is the story of an idea that would not die--and of the dauntless human spirit. Illustrated with striking color images, The Universe in a Mirror describes the heated battles between scientists and bureaucrats, the perseverance of astronauts to repair and maintain the telescope, and much more. Hubble, and the men and women behind it, opened a rare window onto the universe, dazzling humanity with sights never before seen. This book tells their remarkable story. A new afterword updates the reader on the May 2009 Hubble service mission and looks to the future of astronomy, including the prospect of a new space telescope to replace Hubble.

Autor

Robert Zimmerman is an award-winning science writer and historian whose work has appeared in Natural History, the Wall Street Journal, and Astronomy, among other leading publications. His books include Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel and Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 22.2.2010
• Zusatzinfo: 25 color illus. 24 halftones. 2 line illus.
• Verlagsort: Princeton
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Astronomie / Astrophysik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Thermodynamik
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Schlagworte: Adam Riess • Adaptive optics • Advanced Camera for Surveys • Aerospace • Andromeda Galaxy • ARES V • Astronaut • Astronomer • Astronomical Object • Astronomy • astrophysics • Atmosphere of Earth • Atmospheric entry • Bart Bok • Big Science • Career • Celestial mechanics • Chandra X-Ray Observatory • Charles Bolden • Chronology of the universe • Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 • Cosmic Origins Spectrograph • Cosmic Ray • Crew Exploration Vehicle • Dextre • Edwin Hubble • Engineering • Eric Chaisson • Ernst Stuhlinger • Eta Carinae • exoplanet • Exploration of the Moon • Extravehicular activity • Faint Object Camera • Fine Guidance Sensor • Fred Hoyle • Funding • Galaxy cluster • Galileo Probe • gamma-ray burst • Geology of the Moon • George Ellery Hale • George Mueller (NASA) • Globular Cluster • Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph • Goddard Space Flight Center • Grumman • Hale telescope • Helix nebula • Henry Norris Russell • High Speed Photometer • Hubble Deep Field • Hubble's law • Hubble space telescope • Hubble Ultra-Deep Field • human spaceflight • Inception • Infrared • Infrared telescope • Interferometry • International Astronomical Union • Interstellar Medium • Itek • James Webb Space Telescope • John Herschel • Kitt Peak National Observatory • light-year • Lyman Spitzer • Maintenance, repair, and operations • Margaret Burbidge • Mario Livio • Marshall Space Flight Center • Martin Schwarzschild • milky way • Mount Wilson observatory • Nancy Roman • Nasa • NASA Headquarters • National Air and Space Museum • National Science Foundation • Nebula • Nebular hypothesis • new start • Null corrector • Observatory • optical telescope • Orbit • Orbital mechanics • Orbiting Astronomical Observatory • Orion nebula • Orion (spacecraft) • Overwhelmingly Large Telescope • percentage • Percival Lowell • physicist • Planetary nebula • Primary mirror • printed circuit board • project Gemini • Protoplanetary disk • Protostar • Quasar • Radio Telescope • Riccardo Giacconi • Ring Nebula • Roger Angel • Roger Blandford • Roger Boisjoly • Roscosmos State Corporation • Safe mode (spacecraft) • Satellite • Saturn IB • Saul Perlmutter • scattering • Scientist • Secondary Mirror • Skylab • Solar Panel • spacecraft • space environment • space exploration • Spaceflight • space probe • space shuttle • Space Shuttle Atlantis • Space Shuttle Columbia disaster • Space Shuttle program • space station • Space telescope • Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph • Space Telescope Science Institute • Spectrograph • Spherical Aberration • Spiral galaxy • Spitzer (bullet) • Spitzer Space Telescope • star formation • stellar evolution • Supernova • Supernova Cosmology Project • Technology • telescope • Television • Terrestrial Planet Finder • Ultraviolet • Unmanned spacecraft • Uranus • Vera Rubin • video camera • Voyager 1 • Voyager program • Wavelength • Weather • Wide Field Camera 3 • Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe • Working Group • X-Ray • X-ray telescope • year
• ISBN-10: 1-4008-3476-7 / 1400834767
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4008-3476-1 / 9781400834761