Question Sheet: Hubble Lives On

SCIENCE

Before reading:

1. Constructing a telescope in space is much harder — and costs much more —

   than building one on Earth. Why would scientists go through the extra trouble of

   constructing some telescopes in space (what would the benefits be)?

2. What extra problems will scientists have when building, servicing and

   eventually shutting down space telescopes?

During reading:

1. How old is the Hubble telescope?
2. Name three special things this telescope has captured in its images and

   taught ground-based astronomers.

3. How much better is the resolution of Hubble’s images, compared to those from

   ground-based telescopes?

4. What contributes to that better resolution? (Hint: What’s in the sky between

   the ground and Hubble?)

5. How many days did it take to capture the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image of

   the universe shortly after the Big Bang? (Hint: There are 60 seconds in a

   minute, then 60 minutes in an hour, then 24 hours in a day.)

6. Why does Hubble imagery have value beyond producing pretty pictures?
7. When is the next servicing mission planned for the telescope, and once

   fixed, how long is the telescope expected to continue operating?

After reading:

1. If it costs more to build and operate telescopes in space, but they yield

   better data, should we just shut down Earth-based telescopes and use the money

   from them for space-based astronomy? Explain your reasoning.

2. How important do you think this observational astronomy is to science — to

   understanding the creation and early developments in the universe?

3. If you could guide the Hubble Space Telescope to answer a question or view

   something in our universe, what would it be — and why?

4. Much groundbreaking science today takes place at the extremes — the most

   distant reaches of our universe, the greatest depths of the ocean, the tiniest

   scales occurring within atoms or the deepest recesses of our DNA. If you had a

   chance to conduct science in one of these venues, which would you choose?

   Explain your choice.

SOCIAL STUDIES

1. Because of the high expense of conducting space science, many countries

   borrow (or lease) time on instruments in another country — or do cooperative

   research with foreign scientists. Explain at least two reasons why this is good

   — or not.

2. Identify the costs of the space-shuttle flights, space-station construction,

   and Hubble telescope. How does the cost compare to developing a new medicine,

   building a new submarine or designing a new tropical resort? Compared to the

   costs of those other ventures, how worthwhile do you believe the investments in

   space science are? Explain your reasoning.

3. Astronomers and space scientists may spend 10 years or more in university

   studies training to explore the universe — about as long as a heart doctor or

   another highly specialized physician. On a day-to-day basis, who does more

   similar work — or more varied tasks? Who has the potential to learn more?

   Assuming they would earn the same amount of money, which profession would you

   prefer to be? Explain your decision.

LANGUAGE ARTS

• Research and hold a classroom debate on why investments in space science are

  a good use of money — even in today’s tight economy.

• Write at least three paragraphs on what you would like to study if you had

  control of the Hubble Space Telescope. Explain your choices.

• List at least 30 adjectives and 30 nouns from the Hubble story, then use

  each at least once in some poem about the exploration of our cosmos.