Happy Birthday, Hubble Space Telescope!

Eighteen years ago yesterday, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched on shuttle Discovery.

As other bloggers have noted, most freshman Astro101 students are the same age as Hubble. And were toddlers when astronauts corrected the spherical abberation, finally giving us diffraction--limited views of the distant universe.

Problem with Spitzer Space Telescope - apparently resolved

The problem is now resolved. This past week, there was a problem with the electronics that control the IRS and MIPS instruments onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope. Normal science operations have resumed.

Description of the problem can be found on the SSC website.