Yeah, I know I’m showing my space science geekiness, but I’ve been following Hubble since the 1980s when it was being constructed. I remember it being plagued with problems, massively over budget, and when deployed the unthinkable was discovered — it was crippled by a fault in one of its mirrors. It took another space shuttle mission to effect a repair that many thought couldn’t be done, but it worked, and as a result we get images like this of the Eagle Nebula (click on the picture for the full-sized version):
This isn’t a special effect for a Hollywood blockbuster — this is really out there in space! This nebula alone is larger than any human being can really comprehend. Space is vast and dark but also glorious and filled with wondrous and amazing things that we’d never see if it weren’t for Hubble.
Imax got involved in one of the shuttle flights to extend Hubble’s effective lifespan, so it could continue to bring us images of the farthest depths of the universe. It will be coming to Imax 3D later this year. It will be worth it to see the launch of the shuttle alone — everything else is just icing.
