The Hubble Space Telescope Trivia Quiz

Answer: It is not affected by earth's atmosphere or weather

The Hubble Space Telescope does require a focusing system and a power supply, and it is expensive to build and maintain. Its biggest advantage over land-based telescopes is that it can operate around the clock, unimpaired by poor visibility on earth. In addition, the Hubble can receive infrared and ultraviolet radiation from outer space, unhindered by earth's atmosphere.

Answer: the speed that a galaxy moves away from us (on earth) is proportional to its distance from us

Named after astronomer Edwin P. Hubble, the Hubble's Law is the value of the velocity of a galaxy receding from earth, compared to its distance away from earth. This is related to the concept of an expanding universe. The Hubble Space Telescope allowed scientists to find an accurate value for Hubble's Law, which in turn allowed scientists to make more accurate estimates of distances in outer space.

Answer: an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas and other ionised gases

The Hubble Space Telescope can actually measure the distance across the nebula, the shape of the nebula, and its distance from earth. For example, Hubble found that the Ring Nebula has the shape of a cylinder which is approximately one light- year in diameter (source: NASA publication).

Answer: the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph can analyze the wavelengths of light coming from various stars, which can give information on the chemical composition of the stars themselves. This instrument is used to study stars, quasars, black holes and other bodies in outer space, according to NASA publications.

Answer: all of these

Like other instruments on the Hubble, the Wide Field Camera 3 is designed to be as versatile as possible by using a wide range of the light spectrum. Infrared light, for example, is used to take images of very faint objects, which are thought to be some of the oldest objects in the universe.

Some images may be taken in several different spectra to gather more information about the object.

Answer: To protect the instruments from lint and other contaminents

The instruments aboard the Hubble Space Telescope are very sensitive and can be damaged by lint, dust and other contaminants. Just like we try to keep a clean lens on our personal cameras, NASA needs to keep clean parts on its very sophisticated instruments like the Wide Field Camera or the Cosmic Origins Spectrometer (COS).

Instead of keeping a neutral charge, the "bunny suits" are actually slightly conductive, in order to move electrostatic charge off the technicians and onto a ground collector.

This is because electrostatic charge can damage the sensitive electronics on the Hubble's instruments.

Answer: Astronauts performed the repairs or upgrades

Repairs or upgrades to the complicated Hubble instruments were made by astronauts flying to the Hubble aboard NASA's space shuttles. The astronauts trained for a long time on the ground with mock-up repairs so they could successfully complete the repairs in outer space.

Answer: false

The Wide Field Camera has real optical lenses made of ground glass. These lenses have special corrections, that together with internal mirrors, compensate for imperfections in the primary mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope. It turned out that correcting the instrument's lenses was easier than replacing the main mirror, which was ground incorrectly.

Answer: All of these

This mirror is truly an engineering marvel! To save weight, engineers reduced the amount of glass in the mirror by 75% using an open, honeycomb design. Also, given the temperature changes in outer space, the mirror was designed to reduce both contraction and expansion with temperature. Finally, the magnesium fluoride overcoat allows the Hubble Space Telescope to reflect ultraviolet light as well as visible light.

This is important because astronomers are interested in both ends of the light spectrum for Hubble images. (This information comes from NASA publications.)

Answer: Goddard Space Flight Center

Although all of these centers have contributed to the Hubble mission, the primary facility involved in the Hubble Space Telescope is Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, which is NASA's primary satellite facility. Goddard Space Flight Center has the world's largest clean room (for assembling sensitive equipment), communications centers for receiving satellite transmissions, and a visitors' center. Greenbelt, Maryland is also the home town of Funtrivia members Janetgool, milogrobani, and severnriver.


Thank you for taking this quiz, and I hope you enjoyed it! Also, a thank-you to my husband, a proud member of the Hubble team.