Hubble Telescope: Launch, Repairs and Deep Field Quiz

Ten documented questions about Hubble’s deployment, mirror correction, servicing missions and deep-field science.

Choose one answer per question. There’s no timer. You can skip a question; unanswered questions count as incorrect.

QUESTION 01Which shuttle launched the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990?

DiscoveryEndeavourAtlantisColumbia

QUESTION 02On which date did the shuttle launch Hubble into space?

April 25, 1990April 24, 1990December 2, 1993July 20, 1969

QUESTION 03What optical problem affected Hubble after deployment?

A shattered solar arrayA missing camera lensSpherical aberration in the primary mirrorA permanently closed aperture door

QUESTION 04Which shuttle carried Hubble’s first servicing mission in December 1993?

DiscoveryChallengerColumbiaEndeavour

QUESTION 05Which pair of optical upgrades helped correct Hubble’s early imaging problem?

COSTAR and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2Two brand-new primary mirrorsA radio antenna and radar dishAn external ground-based laser

QUESTION 06How many astronaut servicing missions visited Hubble in total?

ThreeFiveSevenNine

QUESTION 07What did the original 1995 Hubble Deep Field reveal in a small patch of sky?

Only stars inside our solar systemA new Moon craterRoughly 3,000 galaxiesEarth’s weather systems

QUESTION 08What is the approximate diameter of Hubble’s primary mirror?

0.24 meter12 meters24 meters2.4 meters

QUESTION 09Why can a telescope in orbit observe some wavelengths more effectively than many ground telescopes?

It operates above much of the absorbing atmosphereIt eliminates the speed of lightIt automatically magnifies every objectIt is beyond Earth’s gravity

QUESTION 10What does observing extremely distant galaxies show astronomers?

Objects exactly as they are this instantThe galaxies as their light appeared long agoAn image from Earth’s futureA guaranteed count of all galaxies

Keep your curiosity going.