K (251 days ago) delete

Wow!  It's surreal that you can look at the Hubble so closely even though it's so far away.

dariusmonsef (251 days ago) delete

Very cool.

papua09 (248 days ago) delete

Again Wow....amazing to see up close.

K (248 days ago) delete

I had to come back to this one.  What causes the wear & tear as shown in one of the highlights?  Is that from damage during previous repair spacewalks?

Skullheadface (248 days ago) delete

What an awesome (and easy) way to check out and explore the Hubble. Watching a video does not come close to the personal touch of photosynth, giving us complete control to navigate different areas. Very cool !!       Thanks guys !

NASA (230 days ago) delete

The damage is probably due to three causes: orbital debris and/or micrometeorites impacting with Hubble, or thermal cycling.  

The first two items are self explanatory. In the third case, since the Hubble Telescope orbits the Earth ~90 times a day, the spacecraft undergoes thermal cycles (heating and cooling) as it goes from the sunlit part of the orbit to the dark side of the orbit.  This constant thermal cycling can cause damage on the thermal blankets over time, not unlike older cars left out in the sun having their dashboards eventually crack.  All of those heating and cooling cycles can eventually cause the thermal blankets to crack. As the image shows, multiple layers of thermal blankets were used on Hubble to provide adequate protection to the spacecraft if the outer layer became damaged.

magdy_soliman (32 weeks ago) delete

Great

tvguy12ms (223 days ago) delete

Sweet, love space and great job that they returned safely.