Happy 18th Birthday Hubble
2008 April 26
The launching of the Hubble Space Telescope was 18 years ago this month. Oh, the wondrous views it hath wrought.
THE stars are mansions built by Nature's hand,
And, haply, there the spirits of the blest
Dwell, clothed in radiance, their immortal vest;
Huge Ocean shows, within his yellow strand,
A habitation marvellously planned,
For life to occupy in love and rest;
All that we see--is dome, or vault, or nest,
Or fortress, reared at Nature's sage command.
Glad thought for every season! but the Spring
Gave it while cares were weighing on my heart, 10
'Mid song of birds, and insects murmuring;
And while the youthful year's prolific art--
Of bud, leaf, blade, and flower--was fashioning
Abodes where self-disturbance hath no part.
- William Wordsworth
Psst…..I fixed the oversight.
When I first started hearing about sending up a “space telescope”, I was a little blase about the whole thing. But I remember seeing the first pics being pulled, well, I don’t so much remember the actual pics as much as I remember the feeling of awe at what was now possible for my own eyes to see…