Hubble’s Universe

Narration
The year is 1929...  An astronomer named Edwin Hubble changes our view of
the Universe.  

Using his era’s largest telescope, he discovers that beyond our Milky Way
are billions of other galaxies, all flying away from us.  The implication,
that the cosmos is expanding – so one could trace it back to a moment of
cosmic birth – shakes the astronomical world.

The rush is on for bigger and better telescopes to observe this new
universe.

But astronomers face a daunting obstacle.  Earth’s own atmosphere blurs
light from space, dulling the sight of the sharpest telescopes.

Finally, in 1946, astronomer Lyman Spitzer proposes a solution that's
brilliant, but impractical:  put a telescope in space.

Lyman Spitzer
I think that all of my friends took a rather skeptical view of astronomical
research out in space; they thought it was basically impractical,
pie-in-the-sky...

Narration
Maybe so in 1946, but developments already under way will soon help to
realize Spitzer's vision.

In the 1920s and 30s, Robert Goddard launches the field of rocketry.

Persevering through failures and successes, his work will soon open a
pathway to space.

During World War II, Germany's V2 program refines Goddard's work.

After the war, German rocket engineers, led by Wernher von Braun, come to
the United States. 

Here, their goal is to transform the weapons of war into a vehicle that can
go beyond the Earth's atmosphere.  

Space travel takes another leap forward when the Soviet Union launches
Sputnik in 1957.

And after early setbacks, the United States responds with a satellite of
its own – called Explorer One – and the race for space is on.

With the founding of NASA in 1958, space quickly becomes a familiar place.

Alongside its manned missions, NASA begins exploring the solar system with
robotic spacecraft.

Finally, Spitzer's dream begins to take form.

In 1968, the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, precursor to Spitzer's
space telescope, enters orbit.  Its observations are a stunning success. 

Then, for a while, NASA's focus is to put a man on the moon.

Neil Armstrong
That's one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind.

Narration
In the afterglow of this triumph, NASA – and the astronomical community –
begin to plan for the ultimate realization of Spitzer's dream:  a large
space telescope.

Through the early 1970s, they develop plans while building support for the
telescope.

In 1977, Spitzer's tireless support wins the project Congressional
approval.  

With the European Space Agency signing on as a partner, the Large Space
Telescope is at last a reality!

The same year, Lockheed Aerospace and Perkin-Elmer Corporation sign on to
design and build the spacecraft.

Perkin-Elmer builds the telescope's mirrors and sighting equipment.  It'll
take them 2 years to polish off 200 pounds of glass from the 94-inch main
mirror.

In 1984, the heart of the telescope – now renamed in Edwin Hubble's honor –
moves to Lockheed for completion.

There, in the world's biggest clean room, Lockheed technicians connect the
telescope to the rest of its spacecraft, in preparation for launch. 

Announcer
And ... Liftoff of the Space Shuttle Discovery with the Hubble Space
Telescope, our window on the Universe.

Narration
After forty years, Spitzer's dream has become reality.  And through the
Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers open up the depths of the expanding
Universe, building on Edwin Hubble’s discoveries and exploring mysteries
that could never be answered before.