In light of the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble telescope, Joseph Tatarewicz, an associate professor of history, was quoted extensively in a Christian Science Monitor article and reflected on the hype and drama surrounding the telescope.
In the article, Tatarewicz called it a ” “Perils of Pauline” saga with emotional highs and lows, such as the botched-mirror episode. From its very beginning, each time Hubble hit a low, it rebounded, Tatarewicz said, “but before it rebounded, to one degree or another, the future of the agency and spaceflight hung on it. It’s just a good story.”
With the telescope’s high expectations to gather crisp images with unprecedented detail, Tatarewicz said he would marvel with his colleagues at the claims the telescope’s supporters were making. “We occasionally would say the hype is getting out of hand,” he recalled. “The irony is that it has exceeded expectations on almost everything you can think of.”
To read the full article in the Christian Science Monitor titled “Hubble: The people’s telescope at 25,” click here.
