Hubble expo, a crowd puller
Hubble was called a '$2.5m joke’
KOZHIKODE: Hubble Space Telescope (HST), one of the largest and most versatile space telescopes, is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy.
With the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) celebrating its 25th year, the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium-Kozhikode is joining the party with an exhibition on the HST.
The one-month-long exhibition that started on Saturday is opening a diverse world of astronomy and its history and advancements with replicas and audio-visual shows for science buffs.
The expo also has models of the next generation space telescope called ‘James Webb Space Telescope’ (JWST) which will be launched in 2018 and ‘Thirty Metre Telescope’ (TMT) on construction at Hawaii.
A computer kiosk which displays movies and animations related to the working of HST has also been arranged in the expo.
A large number of panels showcasing the spectacular images captured by HST and the Hubble repair mission vehicle models are other attractions during the exhibition.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, RSC Technical Officer and the designer of the exhibition Jayant Ganguly said that the expo was getting a good response from the public.
“When the HST started sending blurred images at first, the people said the mission was ‘a $2.5 million joke’. However, NASA sent a repair mission to space, correcting the defects and the rest is history. Millions of crystal clear images of various galaxies and stars were sent to Earth by the HST and helped us immensely in understanding the universe,” said V.S Ramachandran, Director of RSC.