It's almost 3 AM, and I can't stop exclaiming,"Wow!" as I watch something I just found on the Internet. It's the Hubble 3D Imax page. It's a great find for anyone interested in astronomy or space exploration, as I have been since I was a kid. I have vivid, exciting memories of the first Sputnik, the Russian/American space race, the first human walk on the moon, and, especially appealing to the scientist in me, the accumulation of a wealth of data about our solar system and places far beyond.
The Hubble space telescope was launched in 1990 and orbited the earth collecting data from the far reaches of the universe and transmitting the data to Earth. When Hubble developed some serious problems with its scientific equipment, there was a heated debate about whether or not to send humans up there to fix it. The Hubble telescope was, by then, a cherished symbol of man's desire and ability to push the limits of our astronomical knowledge. The decision was made: Several crews of astronauts were sent "up there" at different times to fix Hubble's ailing scientific equipment, a formidable task. The astronauts did it successfully (wow!). A new Imax film about the Hubble repair job was released on March 19 of this year. I can't wait to see the film on the huge Imax screen at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Right now, I'm reading and watching a video about it online. I'm also wow-ing over the fantastic photographs we've got from Hubble. If you love the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, as I do, you'll love the Hubble site and the new film, too. You can download one of Hubble's photos for your computer's desktop, and I downloaded the little icon you see above.
Watch it! It's great!
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