Hubble
Space Telescope
Wide-Field/Planetary
Camera (WF/PC)
The
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble was designed for long-term use and to be serviced
in orbit every few years by Space Shuttle astronauts. The
light gathered by its single large mirror is directed to
several cameras and spectrographs that can record visible,
ultraviolet, and infrared light. Several Hubble instruments,
including some retrieved from space, are displayed in this
gallery. A full-size test version of the Hubble is in the
Space Race exhibition.
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WF/PC
The Hubble's Original Camera
These optical elements are from the Hubble Space Telescope's
Wide-Field/Planetary Camera, or WF/PC ("WIF-pik").
WF/PC was part of the Hubble when it was placed in orbit
in 1990. The camera was retrieved by Space Shuttle astronauts
in 1993 and replaced with WFPC-2, a similar instrument with
tiny optical alterations to compensate for a flaw in the
shape of the Hubble's main mirror.
WF/PC
was two cameras in one. Light could be directed to either
of two sets of sensors: wide-field sensors for viewing broad
areas of the sky, or narrow-field (planetary) sensors for
viewing small, bright objects, such as planets or moons.
The sensors' CCD chips could record images in visible, ultraviolet,
and infrared light. Most of the spectacular images returned
by the Hubble were taken by WF/PC's successor, WFPC-2.
Built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Transferred from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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CCD
from the Hubble's WF/PC Camera
800 x 800 pixels
Total: 640,000 pixels
The CCD chips available for use on the Hubble were not very
powerful by today's standards. They contained just over
6/10ths of a megapixel (1 million pixels), the unit now
used to rate the size of a CCD.
Donated by Scientific Imaging Technologies, Inc.
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Other Featured
Artifacts in this section of the exhibit:
Hubble Space Telescope Backup Mirror
Penzias and Wilson Pigeon Trap
High Resolution Imager (HRI)
Also
In the Museum:
Hubble Space Telescope (Test Vehicle), on display in the "Space
Race" exhibition.
Return to: Exploring The Universe in
the Digital Age
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