For anyone who has ever caught their breath in startlement, or stared mutely in awe, or just wept over the unspeakable majesty of a Hubble image, it may be worth remembering that this week marks a full quarter century since the servicing mission that cleared Hubble's sight and let it start blowing our tiny minds (http://hubble.stsci.edu)...
Yes, and the three days I worked, unauthorized, on the Hubble project. A small role indeed, but it did happen (faint object spectrometer).
Hubble was one of the best things that ever happened on the Earth. I'm sure glad they were able to fix it, just think what we'd've missed out on if they hadn't!
Quote from: Unbeliever on December 08, 2018, 01:33:25 PM
Hubble was one of the best things that ever happened on the Earth. I'm sure glad they were able to fix it, just think what we'd've missed out on if they hadn't!
I had nothing to do with the optical mistake on the main mirror, I swear ;-)
Oh, good, I had thought of accusing you of it, but I figured that might be a bit droll.
Quote from: Unbeliever on December 08, 2018, 03:19:06 PM
Oh, good, I had thought of accusing you of it, but I figured that might be a bit droll.
Well, drool on the mirror could probably have been cleaned off successfully.
I remember the initial disappointment. And then the awe at the pictures.
The pictures were not exactly the cause of my buying a HDTV after some years, but they sure justified it!
Perhaps most important to my understanding of the universe was the picture Hubble took of "nothing" that had "something". You know the image I mean...
Quote from: Cavebear on December 09, 2018, 10:27:25 AM
I remember the initial disappointment. And then the awe at the pictures.
The pictures were not exactly the cause of my buying a HDTV after some years, but they sure justified it!
Perhaps most important to my understanding of the universe was the picture Hubble took of "nothing" that had "something". You know the image I mean...
The view thru your bathroom window, when you were taking a shower?
Quote from: Baruch on December 09, 2018, 10:47:53 AM
The view thru your bathroom window, when you were taking a shower?
See, this is where you disappoint so much. Nonsense reply to a wonder of "seeing"...
Quote from: Cavebear on December 09, 2018, 11:13:10 AM
See, this is where you disappoint so much. Nonsense reply to a wonder of "seeing"...
I once scared a Scotsman, online, by claiming that our spy satellites could see up his kilt, and that we had proof as to whether they wore BVDs or not ;-)
Quote from: Baruch on December 09, 2018, 11:15:14 AM
I once scared a Scotsman, online, by claiming that our spy satellites could see up his kilt, and that we had proof as to whether they wore BVDs or not ;-)
Must have been a Fruit Of The Loom guy.
I once dialed a number my agency was paying for and I didn't recognize and asked the person who answered where he was. He said he was "across the river" It was a local call, so it had to be the Potomac (Washington DC for all you readers). When I replied "how do you know what side of the river I'M on", he said "it doesn't matter". Oops...
I blanked the number from my records...
Quote from: Cavebear on December 09, 2018, 11:30:35 AM
Must have been a Fruit Of The Loom guy.
I once dialed a number my agency was paying for and I didn't recognize and asked the person who answered where he was. He said he was "across the river" It was a local call, so it had to be the Potomac (Washington DC for all you readers). When I replied "how do you know what side of the river I'M on", he said "it doesn't matter". Oops...
I blanked the number from my records...
That is OK, we kept having an idiot repeatedly dial for pizza, whose phone number was one digit off from our classified office. So one of our guys accepted the order ... and no pizza was delivered. They didn't call again, because of the bad service ;-)