Hubble space telescope - Exam
  • 1. When was the Hubble Space Telescope launched?
A) 1990
B) 2000
C) 1985
D) 1995
  • 2. Which space agency launched the Hubble Space Telescope?
A) ISRO
B) ESA
C) Roscosmos
D) NASA
  • 3. What type of telescope is the Hubble Space Telescope?
A) Refracting
B) Infrared
C) Radio
D) Reflecting
  • 4. Which component of the Hubble telescope captures light and directs it to the instruments?
A) Solar panels
B) Control module
C) Antennas
D) Primary mirror
  • 5. What was the main issue with Hubble's primary mirror after its launch?
A) Spherical aberration
B) Lost contact with Earth
C) Power failure
D) Cracks in the mirror
  • 6. Where is the Hubble Space Telescope's control center located?
A) Kennedy Space Center
B) Johnson Space Center
C) Ames Research Center
D) Goddard Space Flight Center
  • 7. How large is the primary mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope?
A) 2.4 meters
B) 1 meter
C) 5 meters
D) 3 meters
  • 8. Who is the telescope named after?
A) Galileo Galilei
B) Albert Einstein
C) Isaac Newton
D) Edwin Hubble
  • 9. What technology was used to correct the Hubble Space Telescope's fuzzy vision?
A) X-ray optics
B) Digital imaging
C) Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR)
D) Laser technology
  • 10. Which regions of the electromagnetic spectrum does Hubble observe in?
A) Microwave and radio waves
B) Visible light only
C) Ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared
D) Infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray
  • 11. Which mission corrected the spherical aberration in Hubble's optics?
A) STS-135 in 2011
B) STS-125 in 2009
C) STS-31 in 1990
D) STS-61 in 1993
  • 12. How many Space Shuttle missions were conducted to repair and upgrade Hubble?
A) Seven
B) Five
C) Six
D) Three
  • 13. Who was the astronomer that published a paper in 1946 discussing the advantages of an extraterrestrial observatory?
A) Hermann Oberth
B) Edwin Hubble
C) Lyman Spitzer
D) Nancy Grace Roman
  • 14. What was one of the main advantages of a space-based observatory over ground-based telescopes, according to Lyman Spitzer?
A) Ground-based telescopes have better angular resolution.
B) Limitations on resolution due to atmospheric turbulence are eliminated.
C) Space telescopes cannot observe infrared and ultraviolet light.
D) Space telescopes can observe only visible light.
  • 15. What was the first space mission to obtain an ultraviolet spectrum of the Sun?
A) 1962
B) 1983
C) 1946
D) 1975
  • 16. Who is known as the 'Mother of Hubble' for her pivotal role in its development?
A) Nancy Grace Roman
B) Hermann Oberth
C) Lyman Spitzer
D) Edwin Hubble
  • 17. What was the original planned launch year for the Large Space Telescope (LST) before it became known as Hubble?
A) 1983
B) 1990
C) 1979
D) 2001
  • 18. What was the main scientific contribution of Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 (OAO-2)?
A) Ultraviolet observations of stars and galaxies from 1968 to 1972.
B) Gamma-ray observations of black holes.
C) Microwave studies of cosmic microwave background radiation.
D) X-ray imaging of the Moon.
  • 19. What program's success encouraged the astronomical community to pursue a Large Space Telescope (LST) as a major goal?
A) The Hubble program
B) The ESA program
C) The LST program
D) The OAO program
  • 20. In which year did NASA establish committees to plan the engineering and scientific goals of the space telescope project?
A) 1977
B) 1983
C) 1970
D) 1974
  • 21. What was the final approved budget by Congress in 1978 for the Hubble project?
A) $36 million
B) $100 million
C) No funding was approved.
D) $5 million
  • 22. What year did NASA aim to launch the Large Space Telescope (LST)?
A) 1990
B) 1974
C) 1983
D) 1978
  • 23. What significant scientific discovery is Edwin Hubble known for confirming?
A) The theory of relativity.
B) The universe is expanding.
C) The structure of DNA.
D) The existence of black holes.
  • 24. What percentage of observing time was guaranteed to European astronomers on Hubble?
A) At least 15%
B) 10%
C) 25%
D) 50%
  • 25. Which company was commissioned to design and build the optical telescope assembly (OTA) for Hubble?
A) Lockheed
B) Goddard Space Flight Center
C) Kodak
D) Perkin-Elmer
  • 26. What was the polishing accuracy required for Hubble's mirror?
A) 10 nanometers
B) 1 micrometer
C) 500 nanometers
D) 100 nanometers
  • 27. Which company constructed a backup mirror using traditional techniques?
A) Lockheed
B) Kodak
C) Itek
D) Perkin-Elmer
  • 28. What was the thickness of each plate in the Hubble mirror's sandwich structure?
A) 50 mm
B) 25 mm
C) 10 mm
D) 5 mm
  • 29. What was the original launch date planned for the Hubble Space Telescope?
A) October 1984
B) April 1985
C) September 1986
D) March 1986
  • 30. What was the thickness of the aluminum reflective coating on Hubble's mirror?
A) 100 nm
B) 50 nm
C) 65 nm
D) 25 nm
  • 31. Which material was used for the protective coating on Hubble's mirror?
A) Aluminum oxide
B) Magnesium fluoride
C) Titanium nitride
D) Silicon dioxide
  • 32. What was the total project budget for the Hubble Space Telescope by 1986?
A) $1.175 billion
B) $750 million
C) $1.5 billion
D) $900 million
  • 33. What was the final launch date for the Hubble Space Telescope after multiple postponements?
A) October 1984
B) April 1985
C) September 1986
D) March 1986
  • 34. What material is used in the HST's frame to keep its parts aligned?
A) Graphite-epoxy
B) Titanium alloy
C) Aluminum
D) Carbon fiber
  • 35. What method was used to reduce the risk of ice formation on HST's instruments?
A) Water-absorbing materials were used.
B) Heating elements were installed in the instruments.
C) A nitrogen gas purge before launch
D) The telescope was coated with an anti-ice material.
  • 36. What was added to the DF-224 during Servicing Mission 1 in 1993?
A) Enhanced communication hardware.
B) An Intel-based 80386 processor with an 80387 math co-processor
C) A new cooling system.
D) Additional memory modules.
  • 37. Which microprocessor did the MAT components use?
A) Hughes Aircraft CDP1802CD
B) Westinghouse NSSC-1.
C) Intel 80386 processor.
D) RCA 1802 microprocessor.
  • 38. Which institution built the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC)?
A) Goddard Space Flight Center
B) European Space Agency
C) NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
D) University of Wisconsin–Madison
  • 39. What was the primary function of the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC)?
A) Infrared observations
B) Ultraviolet spectroscopy
C) Visible light photometry
D) High-resolution optical imaging
  • 40. How many CCD chips did the WF/PC contain?
A) Twelve
B) Four
C) Eight
D) Sixteen
  • 41. What type of storage facilities were initially used on the Hubble Space Telescope when it was launched?
A) Solid state data storage
B) Reel-to-reel tape drives
C) Optical discs
D) Flash memory
  • 42. What was one of the unexpected findings regarding optical surfaces in LEO from Hubble's mission?
A) They require frequent replacement.
B) They degrade rapidly due to radiation.
C) They are unaffected by vacuum conditions.
D) They can have surprisingly long lifetimes.
  • 43. What color is typically rendered for infrared channels in false-color images from Hubble?
A) Dark blue
B) Deep red
C) Vivid yellow
D) Bright green
  • 44. What was the name of the dwarf planet discovered by Hubble in 2015 as a target for New Horizons' extended mission?
A) 486958 Arrokoth
B) Sedna
C) Eris
D) Pluto
  • 45. What was replaced with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) during Servicing Mission 1?
A) WF/PC
B) Gyroscopes
C) High Speed Photometer
D) Solar arrays
  • 46. Which instrument was kept in hibernation since 2008 but could be revived if WFC3 failed?
A) COSTAR
B) NICMOS
C) ACS
D) STIS
  • 47. What technique does the Frontier Fields program use to study distant galaxies?
A) Radio wave detection
B) Gravitational lensing
C) Ultraviolet imaging
D) X-ray observation
  • 48. What term describes the unknown cause of the universe's accelerated expansion?
A) Cosmic radiation
B) Dark energy
C) Dunkle Materie
D) Quantum flux
  • 49. Who can apply to extend or reduce the proprietary period of Hubble data?
A) The director of STScI
B) Any astronomer
C) NASA administrators
D) The principal investigator (PI)
  • 50. What is the term for the automatic calibration process used on Hubble data?
A) Image enhancement
B) Manual calibration
C) Data compression
D) Pipeline reduction
  • 51. How many mission simulations occurred before Servicing Mission 1?
A) Ten
B) Five
C) Seven
D) Three
  • 52. What technique did astronomers use to partially compensate for Hubble's defective mirror?
A) They used additional lenses to correct the images.
B) Sophisticated image processing techniques such as deconvolution.
C) The telescope was recalibrated using ground-based observations.
D) Astronomers manually adjusted each image.
  • 53. How many countries are involved in the COSMOS collaboration?
A) A dozen
B) Five
C) Two
D) Twenty
  • 54. When did NASA declare the first servicing mission a complete success?
A) February 14, 1994
B) March 1, 1994
C) January 13, 1994
D) December 31, 1993
  • 55. How many papers based on Hubble data had been published in peer-reviewed journals by 2025?
A) Approximately 15,000
B) Over 22,000
C) About 10,000
D) Nearly 30,000
  • 56. What was installed during Servicing Mission 3A to prevent battery overcharging?
A) New thermal insulation blankets.
B) Heat sink of solid nitrogen.
C) Solid State Recorder.
D) Voltage/temperature Improvement Kit (VIK).
  • 57. Which instrument was built by the University of Wisconsin–Madison?
A) High Speed Photometer (HSP)
B) Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS)
C) Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC)
D) Faint Object Camera (FOC)
  • 58. Where is the Faint Object Camera (FOC) displayed?
A) Space Place at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
B) NASA's Johnson Space Center
C) Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
D) Dornier museum, Germany
  • 59. What is the approximate altitude of Hubble's orbit?
A) 700 kilometers (435 mi)
B) 350 kilometers (217 mi)
C) 540 kilometers (340 mi)
D) 1000 kilometers (621 mi)
  • 60. How many spectral lines could the WF/PC isolate using its set of filters?
A) 96
B) 24
C) 48
D) 12
  • 61. What was considered more accurate but led to the error in Hubble's mirror?
A) Conventional refractive null correctors.
B) Computer simulations.
C) The custom-built reflective null corrector.
D) Manual measurements.
  • 62. Which observatory is coordinated with Hubble for some research projects?
A) Kepler Space Telescope
B) Spitzer Space Telescope
C) Chandra X-ray Observatory
D) James Webb Space Telescope
  • 63. Which astronaut was assigned to Servicing Mission 1 due to their experience in satellite repair procedures since 1976?
A) Yuri Gagarin
B) Neil Armstrong
C) Story Musgrave
D) Buzz Aldrin
  • 64. What event caused the postponement of the Hubble Space Telescope's launch originally planned for October 1986?
A) Budget cuts in NASA funding
B) Delays in manufacturing parts
C) Technical issues with the telescope
D) The Challenger disaster
  • 65. What was one study conducted by amateur astronomers using the Hubble Telescope?
A) Study of black holes
B) Analysis of Earth's climate
C) "Transition Comets – UV Search for OH"
D) Observation of exoplanets
  • 66. What significant discovery was made with Hubble's help in 2016?
A) A new type of black hole
B) The farthest confirmed galaxy, GN-z11
C) An Earth-like planet in the habitable zone
D) A new solar system within our galaxy
  • 67. What type of detectors did the FOC, FOS, and GHRS use?
A) Photon-counting digicons
B) Photomultiplier tubes
C) Infrared sensors
D) Charge-coupled devices (CCDs)
  • 68. How many orbits were used to map the southern half of Andromeda in the PHAST program?
A) 828 orbits.
B) 500 orbits.
C) 195 orbits.
D) 1000 orbits.
  • 69. What technique had obtained higher-resolution optical and infrared images than Hubble before its launch?
A) Radio astronomy
B) Aperture masking interferometry
C) X-ray imaging
D) Spectroscopy
  • 70. What was the resolution accuracy achieved by Hubble's Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS) for astrometry?
A) Within 1 arcsecond
B) Within 0.001 arcseconds
C) Within 0.0003 arcseconds
D) Within 0.01 arcseconds
  • 71. Which Space Shuttle mission successfully launched the Hubble Space Telescope on April 24, 1990?
A) STS-26
B) STS-28
C) STS-41-C
D) STS-31
  • 72. What is the solar avoidance angle for Hubble's observations?
A) 90°
B) 30°
C) 70°
D) About 50°
  • 73. Who headed the commission that investigated the error with the Hubble Space Telescope's mirror?
A) Carl Sagan
B) Neil Armstrong
C) Edwin Hubble
D) Lew Allen
  • 74. What is the estimated mass of comet C/2014 UN271's nucleus compared to other known comets?
A) The same as other known comets
B) Twice the mass
C) Fifty times the mass
D) Ten times the mass
  • 75. How many scientists are involved in the COSMOS collaboration?
A) More than 200
B) Less than 50
C) Exactly 100
D) About 500
  • 76. What was the main issue found by the Allen Commission regarding the Hubble's mirror?
A) The mirror was made of incorrect material.
B) The telescope's software was faulty.
C) A reflective null corrector had been incorrectly assembled.
D) The mirror was not polished enough.
  • 77. What significant discovery was made using Hubble data in the Orion Nebula?
A) Quasars
B) Black holes
C) Dark matter
D) Proto-planetary disks (proplyds)
  • 78. What percentage of the Universe's age do the galaxies in COSMOS span?
A) 50%
B) 75%
C) 100%
D) 90%
  • 79. Which instrument was operational from 1990 to 2002 and replaced by ACS in 2002?
A) Faint Object Camera (FOC)
B) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
C) Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
D) Fine Guidance Sensor
  • 80. How many hours per cycle were allocated to amateur astronomers by Riccardo Giacconi?
A) Half of the telescope's time
B) No specific allocation
C) Only a few hours
D) The entire cycle
  • 81. What is the proprietary period for Hubble data before it becomes publicly available?
A) Immediately upon collection
B) Six months
C) Twelve months
D) Twenty-four months
  • 82. What is the nickname of the farthest individual star detected by Hubble in 2022?
A) Earendel
B) Betelgeuse
C) Rigel
D) Sirius
  • 83. What is used to create color images from Hubble's monochromatic data?
A) Using a single wide-spectrum filter
B) Direct color imaging sensors
C) Combining separate monochrome images through different filters
D) Post-processing with artificial intelligence
  • 84. What does the Frontier Fields program aim to provide for galaxies at z > 5?
A) Observations of young stars
B) Ultraviolet imaging
C) The first statistically meaningful morphological characterization
D) Data on outer planets' atmospheres
  • 85. What problem did Servicing Mission 3B resolve for NICMOS?
A) Installed a closed-cycle cooler.
B) Replaced its main mirror.
C) Installed new solar arrays.
D) Upgraded its data-handling unit.
  • 86. What was the intended conic constant for Hubble's mirror?
A) -0.90000
B) -1.50000
C) -1.01390±0.0002
D) -1.00230
  • 87. In which decade did NASA and STScI convene panels to discuss key projects for the Hubble Space Telescope?
A) The early 2000s
B) The late 1970s
C) The mid-1990s
D) The early 1980s
  • 88. How many orbits were used to map the northern half of Andromeda in the PHAT program?
A) 828 orbits.
B) 1000 orbits.
C) 195 orbits.
D) 500 orbits.
  • 89. Which instrument was primarily used for keeping the telescope accurately pointed during observations?
A) High Speed Photometer (HSP)
B) Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC)
C) Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS)
D) Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS)
  • 90. What was the impact of the Columbia disaster on Hubble's servicing missions?
A) Servicing Mission 4 was postponed indefinitely.
B) Future crewed service missions were canceled.
C) It led to immediate repairs being made to Hubble.
D) NASA decided to launch the James Webb Space Telescope earlier.
  • 91. Which format is used to store all data in the Hubble archive for astronomical analysis?
A) TIFF format
B) FITS format
C) PNG format
D) JPEG format
  • 92. Which galaxy observed by Hubble using gravitational lensing subverted expectations about star formation?
A) Sombrero Galaxy
B) MACS 2129-1
C) Andromeda Galaxy
D) Whirlpool Galaxy
  • 93. Which instrument was operational from 1990 to 1997 and is now displayed in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum?
A) Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS)
B) Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
C) Wide Field Camera 3
D) Fine Guidance Sensor
  • 94. Which Space Shuttle flew the first servicing mission in December 1993?
A) Atlantis
B) Discovery
C) Columbia
D) Endeavour
  • 95. How often are calls for proposals issued for the Hubble Space Telescope?
A) Monthly
B) Roughly annually
C) Every two years
D) Biannually
  • 96. In what year was the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) launched?
A) 1998
B) 2010
C) 2006
D) 2020
  • 97. What was one of the improvements made to Hubble during its delay after the Challenger disaster?
A) Replacing all instruments
B) Reducing the telescope's size
C) Swapping out a possibly failure-prone battery
D) Eliminating the need for ground software
  • 98. Which moon of Jupiter was found to have a subsurface ocean by Hubble in 2015?
A) Io
B) Callisto
C) Ganymede
D) Europa
  • 99. In what year did astronomers use Hubble to determine the size of comet C/2014 UN271's nucleus?
A) 2015
B) 2019
C) 2022
D) 2018
  • 100. Which instrument replaced the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) in 2009?
A) Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
B) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)
C) Advanced Camera for Surveys
D) Fine Guidance Sensors
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