My Life with the Hubble Space Telescope

Dr. Steven A. Hawley

Department of Physics and Astronomy

University of Kansas

April 25, 2009 marks the 19th anniversary of the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope from the Space Shuttle Discovery. On May 12, 2009, NASA will launch the 5th and final Space Shuttle mission (STS-125) to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. This lecture will describe the 19 years of challenges and accomplishments working on the HST in space from the perspective of an insider, Dr. Steven A. Hawley, former NASA astronaut and veteran of five Space Shuttle missions including the 1990 HST deployment mission and the 1997 mission to upgrade HST's capabilities. The presentation will highlight both the difficulties encountered by the astronauts and some of the remarkable discoveries HST has enabled. Dr. Hawley is currently Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kansas.