Space Telescope Photography Shack Guide
Hubble Space Telescope Advancing Our Technologies
By Cedric B Georges
Bathing suit season is upon us. As you squeeze into
your Speedo, you’re probably more concerned about your
hips than the Hubble Space Telescope. Unbelievably,
because of their experience in studying the forces of
friction and drag, Speedo asked NASA for help in designing
a racing swimsuit.
The resulting suit reduced skin friction drag by 24%.
The research was worth it, as 94% of the gold medals
in swimming at the 2008 Olympics were won by athletes
who were wearing one of the new Speedo suits. This is
just one way that technology designed for Hubble and
space missions is changing our lives.
Clear Images From Space
Since its historic launch 1990, Hubble has provided
amateur astronomy buffs and Nasa scientists with information
about everything from the origins of the planets to
theories about collisions with space matter that could
spell doom for our planet. The technology used for Hubble’s
instruments is almost unbelievable, and the end result
is images from space with unprecedented clarity.
So, how does a sky telescope orbiting outside our atmosphere
help us? The answer is in your local hospital. The same
technology that enhances the Hubble’s images is now
helping doctors to perform micro-invasive arthroscopic
surgery with more accurate diagnoses.
Creating A Better Micro-Endoscope With Hubble Technology
Hubble technology helped improve the micro-endoscope,
a surgical tool that enables surgeons to view what is
happening inside the body on a screen, eliminating the
need for more invasive diagnostic procedures. This saves
time, money and lessens the discomfort that patients
experience.
Charge coupled devices (CCDs) used on Hubble to convert
light into electronic files—such as a distant star’s
light directly into digital images—have been adapted
to improve imaging and optics scopes here on Earth.
When scientists realized that existing CCD technology
could not meet scientific requirements for the Hubble’s
needs, NASA worked with an industry partner to develop
a more sophisticated CCD.
Manufacture Better CCDs For Mammography
The research was then used to manufacture CCDs for
digital mammography biopsy techniques, thus using CCDs
to image breast tissue more clearly and efficiently.
This allows doctors to analyze the tissue by stereotactic
biopsy, which requires a needle rather than surgery.
This means far less trauma to the patient.
Amazingly, the sports world has benefited tremendously
from research done for space travel. Competitive swimmers
are now opting for swimsuits that were designed with
NASA’s help. When an astronaut moves in space, the forces
of pressure and viscous drag are very similar to a body
moving through water. Viscous drag is the force of friction
that slows down a moving object through a substance
like air or water.
Reducing Viscous Drag On Swimming Costumes
NASA and Speedo performed tests on traditionally sewn
seams, ultrasonically welded seams, and the fabric alone,
which gave Speedo a baseline for reducing drag caused
by seams and helped them identify problem areas. The
end result was a swimsuit that Speedo says maintains
a swimmer’s form and enables them to swim longer and
faster because they are using less energy to maintain
form.
The Hubble Space Telescope is revered by amateur astronomy
enthusiasts and scientists across the world because
of its incredible contributions to learning about the
universe. However, a woman whose life is saved because
of early detection of breast cancer, a firefighter who
avoids death because of his fire retardant uniform,
or a diver whose skin is protected while cleaning up
a toxic spill should also thank the hundreds of scientists
and engineers who made the Hubble Space mission possible.
Technology that was originally intended for the sky
telescope truly has improved our quality of life on
Earth.
About the Author:
Cedric B Georges has written a number of articles on
digital photography including 35mm
Cameras, Best
Digital Camera, First
5 Megapixel Camera, People
in Photos, Image
Editor Software, Cheap
Digital Cameras, Digital
Camera Memory Card, Baby
Birth Announcements, Leather
Photo Albums.
Keep a lookout as more articles from this popular author
on this website in the near future.
More Telescope Facts....
What is the largest telescope?
The world’s largest telescope is
found in the Grand Canary Islands in Spain. It took
seven years to build and came with a whopping $180 million
dollar price tag. It is a 10.4 meters reflecting telescope
that is phenomenal to see. It actually came about as
a partnership between the University of Florida, Spain
and Mexico.
But it may soon simply be a very
large telescope. Currently under construction is the
European Extremely Large Telescope which will be a whopping
42 meters! For those not familiar with metric conversions
that is 140 feet. Imagine the size of the building that
will be needed to house that optical telescope.
There was a thought to construct
the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope which would be 100
meters but it would come with a price tag of over $1.5
billion dollars and be far too complex to build at the
current time. And yes, the names are incredibly
hokey.
You would think that scientists,
architects, astronomers and engineers would have better
names for these telescopes.
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