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