What will become of the old Hubble Space Telescope?

The astronomer Rafael Bachiller reveals to us in this series the most spectacular phenomena of the Cosmos.

Topics of exciting research, astronomical adventures and scientific news about the Universe analyzed in depth.

Now that the newly launched

Space

amazes us with new discoveries every day, are you wondering if the old

is still necessary?

Astronomers think so, but the last word will be with the space agencies.

A disappointing start...

The most veteran fans will remember

, when the space shuttle Discovery placed the brand new Hubble Space Telescope in its orbit.

And you will remember how within a few days, we learned that the images it produced were mediocre because its main mirror, 2.4 meters long, had been polished to a faulty shape (it was not a paraboloid).

Fortunately, after three years of study, a team of astronauts went up to the telescope to put "glasses" on it.

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However, after the installation of these corrective lenses, the telescope dazzled us with very high quality images.

That first space expedition was followed by four others to implement updates and to install increasingly modern and powerful instruments.

But, in 2009, Atlantis flew to Hubble for the last time, and so it was decided to leave it running until it held up in the state it was in.

... but 32 years of success

Fortunately, despite minor incidents, such as the power supply failure of its payload computer a year ago now, the telescope has been performing flawlessly.

All its components are

, so when one of them has failed (like that power supply) it has been passed to the spare unit.

Messier Catalog Objects Observed by Hubble.NASA/ESA/HST

It is impossible to summarize in a few lines the contributions of Hubble to contemporary astrophysical research.

The determination of the

, the characterization of

, the discovery of Pluto's moons, are some of the most airy results of it.

When the telescope completed its 30 years in orbit, we summarized its achievements in these same Chronicles of the Cosmos.

But even in these last few weeks, Hubble continues to amaze us.

To give an example: we all remember the image he obtained of the

, the most distant known, which was made public just four months ago.

This observation revealed to us what the stars were like 12.9 billion years ago, that is, just 900 million years after the

.

Hubble is currently engaged in several far-reaching campaigns.

project stands out

, which is using a thousand orbits of the telescope to produce a unique library of young stars in the ultraviolet.

Something that the James Webb cannot do, since it does not have detectors in that wavelength range.

The star Earendel.NASA/ESA/HST

Complementary

And it is that the Webb is a telescope radically different from the Hubble.

The former is optimized for near- and mid-infrared observing, while the latter is optimized for

.

Due to its greater precision, the Webb needs a longer time to go from one star to another, while the Hubble is very fast, which allows very repetitive observations or observations on a large number of objects.

In short, although Webb was often presented as the "

" to Hubble, the truth is that, for the astronomer, they are very different and complementary tools.

In current astrophysics, almost all studies include observations at multiple wavelengths, trying to provide a panchromatic image of the star or of the physical phenomenon in question.

Hubble, with its optical and ultraviolet detectors, is therefore a

, which, as has been said, is dedicated to the infrared.

The situation is similar to what happens with ground-based telescopes.

The construction of a larger one does not imply that interest in the smaller ones is lost.

They are all valid tools that, as long as they are not redundant, provide complementary information about the universe.

Until 2036?

According to current

plans , Hubble is guaranteed to live until

.

The telescope is losing height, but according to the most recent estimates, it could continue to function properly for at least another ten years.

Both the solar panels, the batteries and other vital equipment are in good condition.

And, as we have said, practically all its equipment is duplicated, if something fails, its spare part can be used.

Hubble's weakest point is possibly its

(instruments used to keep the telescope oriented in space).

It is currently working with three of the six it originally had (the other three failed).

There are no more spare parts and these three are necessary for the telescope to orient itself efficiently.

However, if necessary, albeit much less efficiently, Hubble could work even with a single gyroscope.

Space engineers are experts at extending the life of missions.

Recall how, after running out of coolant, the Spitzer Space

(optimized for the far infrared) continued to be used in 'hot' mode.

Something similar happened with the

telescope , specialized in exoplanets: after the nominal end of the mission and a serious failure, the technicians put it back into operation for what was called the Kepler2 extended mission.

If all goes well in 2026, taking advantage of the synergies with James Webb, the NASA and ESA agencies should be in a position to continue exploiting Hubble until at least

.

In 2009, astronauts installed a device on Hubble for possible capture using a robotic spacecraft.

This could serve to, if necessary, relocate it in orbit and, when the sad moment arrives, lead it towards a controlled re-entry into the atmosphere where it will be burned.

The generation of astronomers now in their postdoctoral stage, one of the most creative moments of their careers, could hardly conceive of astronomy without Hubble.

It has become an

for everyone .

Hopefully Hubble continues to perform well, and hopefully space agencies have the means and the political will to extend its life.

This old, and for many endearing telescope, seems willing to continue providing us with results for many more years.

Rafael Bachiller is the director of

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