PIX4645465: Hubble space telescope: end of the 4th maintenance mission 05/2009 - Hubble space telescope: end of the fourth repair mission - The Hubble space telescope (HST) seen from space shuttle Atlantis after their separation on 19 May 2009. An STS - 125 crew member aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis captured this still image of the Hubble Space Telescope as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation on May 19, after having been linked together for the better part of a week. During the week five spacewalks were performed to complete the final servicing. 19 May 2009 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645472: Hubble space telescope - Artist view - Hubble space telescope - Artist view - The Hubble space telescope is a telescope orbiting the Earth at about 600 km altitude. It is 13 metres long, its main mirror has a diameter of 2.4 metres. He is equipped with spectrometer and several cameras observing the Universe in visible and infrared. The Hubble space telescope is in orbit at about 600 km around the Earth. This 13 meters in length telescope with a mirror of 2.4 meters (94.5 inches) in diameter is also equipped of many cameras and a spectrometer to observe the Universe in the visible and infrared light / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645574: Chandra Space Telescope - Illustration - The Chandra Space Telescope observes the Universe in X-ray; it was launched and put into orbit in July 1999 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645650: Satellite Kepler - Kepler spacecraft - Kepler satellite in clean room. Kepler is a satellite launched in March 2009, designed to discover inhabitable exoplanets in our galaxy. Nasa's Kepler spacecraft in a clean room at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colorado. Kepler is a spaceborne telescope launched in march 2009 and designed to search the nearby region of our galaxy for Earth - size planets orbiting in the habitable zone of stars like our sun / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645709: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - Illustration - James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - Illustration - The JWST Space Telescope will replace the Hubble Space Telescope in 2013. Equipped with a 6.5 m mirror, he will observe the universe mainly in infrared / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645789: James Webb Space Telescope Mirrors (JWST) - Testing of the JWST's mirrors: Six of the 18 JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) mirrors seen at Nasa's Marshall Space Center. These mirrors will be tested there to ensure they will withstand the extreme temperatures of space vacuum. The JWST will replace the Hubble Space Telescope in 2018. Equipped with a 6.5 m mirror, he will observe the universe mainly in infrared - Primary Mirror Segment Cryogenic Testing - Six of the 18 James Webb Space Telescope mirror segments are being prepped to move into the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility, or XRCF, at Nasa's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., to eventually experience temperatures dipping to a chilling -414 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure they can withstand the extreme space environments. The test chamber takes approximately five days to cool a mirror segment to cryogenic temperatures. Marshall's X-ray & Cryogenic Facility is the world's largest X-ray telescope test facility and a unique, cryogenic, clean room optical test location / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645827: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - Artist view - The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - Artist view: The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will replace the Hubble Space Telescope in 2018. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope scheduled for launch in 2018. Equipped with a large mirror 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) in diameter, it will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy and will reside in an orbit about 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from the Earth - The shaded side of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) as it may appear later this decade when it is observing from the Earth-Sun L2 point about 930 thousand miles from the Earth. Part of the Milky Way can be seen reflected in the 21-foot diameter mirror assembly. This assembly is composed of 18 hexagonal segments of gold-coated beryllium which combines to create a near-infrared light-collecting area of about 80 square feet (the Hubble Space Telescope has a collecting area of 48 square feet) - The JWST's sensitive optical elements are shaded from the perpetual sunlight via a “” parasol” consisting of multiple spaced layers of polyimide film. These layers act as a passive cooling barrier between the 185* F sunward side and the -388* F shaded side hosting the optics and sensors / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645934: Space telescope TPF - Illustration - Space telescope TPF - Illustration - Space telescope project consists of several telescopes measuring 3 to 4m in diameter observing in infrared and operating in interferometry. The objective of this project is to detect planets outside our solar system, similar to Earth. This interferometer will also be supported by a telescope of 4 to 6m diameter equipped with a coronographer (not shown in this illustration) / Bridgeman Images

PIX4646096: Mirror of the Herschel satellite - Herschel spacecraft's mirror - Inspection of the mirror of the European Herschel satellite. The Herschel Space Observatory, scheduled to launch in 2009, will study in the infrared the formation of galaxies, stars and planetary systems. This satellite measures nearly 7 metres high by 4.3 metres wide and weighs 3.25 tonnes. Its telescope has a 3.5-meter mirror, making it the largest mirror ever made for a scientific space mission. Herschel will orbit around Lagrange 2, approximately 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. The gigantic telescope of ESA's space - based infrared observatory, Herschel, is being prepared to be assembled with its spacecraft. Herschel's telescope, which will carry the largest mirror ever flown in space, has been delivered to ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre, ESTEC, where engineers and scientists are busy with the final steps that will prepare the infrared observatory for launch in 2009. ESA's Herschel Space Observatory will observe at wavelengths never covered before. It will be located 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth, farther than any previous space telescope / Bridgeman Images

PIX4646142: Satellite Herschel - Illustration - Artist's view of the European satellite Herschel. The Herschel Space Observatory, scheduled to launch in 2009, will study in the infrared the formation of galaxies, stars and planetary systems. This satellite measures nearly 7 metres high by 4.3 metres wide and weighs 3.25 tonnes. Its telescope has a 3.5-meter mirror, making it the largest mirror ever made for a scientific space mission. Herschel will orbit around Lagrange 2, approximately 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. ESA's Herschel Space Observatory (formerly called Far Infrared and Submillimetre Telescope or FIRST) will solve the mystery of how stars and galaxies were born. Objects such as other planetary systems, or processes like the birth of galaxies in the early universe, can best be studied with infrared space telescopes in space. This is the reason for Esa's Herschel. ESA's Herschel Space Observatory will be bigger and better than any of its predecessors. Moreover, it will observe at wavelengths never covered before. It will be located 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth, farther than any previous space telescope. Due for launch in 2009, Herschel is one the Cornerstone missions ESA's Horizons 2000 programme. Herschel is a key project space astronomy in the next millennium / Bridgeman Images

PIX4646265: Telescopes Astro - 1 - ASTRO - 1 telescopes - View of telescopes in orbit around the Earth. Installed aboard the space shuttle Columbia, they observed the sky in ultraviolet and X-ray for 10 days in December 1990. ASTRO - 1 telescopes are documented in the payload bay of the space shuttle Columbia, and backdropped against the cloud - covered surface of the Earth. In the center of the frame are three ultraviolet telescopes mounted and precisely coaligned on a common structure, called the cruciform, that is attached to the instrument pointing system. December 1990 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644502: Satellite Jason - 2 - Illustration - Artist view of satellite Jason - 2. This satellite launched on 20 June 2008 is dedicated to the study of the oceans. Artist's concept of the satellite Jason - 2. This satellite dedicated to studying the ocean was launched on June 20 2008 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644522: Satellite Jason - 2 - Illustration - Artist view of satellite Jason - 2. This satellite launched on 20 June 2008 is dedicated to the study of the oceans. Artist's concept of the satellite Jason - 2. This satellite dedicated to studying the ocean was launched on June 20 2008 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644635: Satellite Orbiting Carbon Observatory - Artist's concept of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory - Artist's view of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) satellite orbiting Earth. This satellite, scheduled to launch in early 2009, will be dedicated exclusively to the study of carbon dioxide on Earth. The mission, scheduled to launch in early 2009, will be the first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide, the main human - produced driver of climate change. It will provide the first global picture of the human and natural sources of carbon dioxide and the places where this important greenhouse gas is stored. Such information will improve global carbon cycle models as well as forecasts of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and of how our climate may change in the future / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644636: Satellite MSG - 2 - Meteosat 9 - Artist's view of the European satellite MSG - 2 (Meteosat Second Generation) or Meteosat 9, in orbit around the Earth, seen here in infrared. Launched on 21 December 2005, it is a geostationary satellite set 35 600 km from Earth; dedicated to meteorology, it observes the Earth in visible, and in infrared / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644645: Satellite MSG - 1 - Meteosat 8 - Artist's view of the European satellite MSG - 1 (Meteosat Second Generation, MSG) or Meteosat 8, in orbit around the Earth. Launched on August 28, 2002, it is a geostationary satellite located 35 600 km from Earth; dedicated to meteorology, it observes the Earth in visible, and in infrared. Artist's view of Meteosat Second Generation (MSG). Satellite observations from space contribute to better weather forecasts as only satellites can observe weather patterns on a global scale, including the Atlantic Ocean over which most of Europe's weather originates / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644758: METOP-SG satellite orbits: Artist's view of METOP-SG satellites in orbit around the Earth. European MetOp second generation satellites will form a family of three pairs of meteorological satellites by 2020. Building on the current series of MetOp weather satellites, the family of Metop-second Generation missions will comprise three pairs of satellites to secure essential information for weather forecasting through the decades beyond 2020 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644759: Launch of satellite METOP - A - Launch of satellite METOP - A - Artist's view of the European satellite METOP - A put into orbit by a Soyuz - Fregat rocket. Launched on October 19, 2006, it is the first European meteorological satellite in polar orbit; it includes twelve meteorological instruments. Launch of satellite METOP - A by a Soyuz rocket. MetOp is a series of three meteorological operational polar orbiting satellites, the first of which, MetOp - A is the prototype. The instruments on MetOp will produce high - resolution images, vertical temperature and humidity profiles, and temperatures of the land and ocean surface on a global basis. Also on board the satellites will be instruments for monitoring ozone and wind flow over the oceans. The first launch was on October 19 2006 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644764: THEMIS satellites - View of THEMIS satellites in preparation at Cap Canaveral on 8 February 2007. This constellation of five satellites aims to better understand the origin of the polar aurora; for two years, satellites will align along the tail of the Earth's magnetic field to identify disturbances observed in the magnetosphere / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644817: The mirror of the Hubble space telescope - The mirror of the Hubble space telescope - The 2.4 m mirror inspects before it is installed on the satellite. Inspection of the 94 inch primary mirror for NASA's Hubble Space Telescope at Perkin - Elmers Optical facilities in Wilton, CT / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644889: Hubble space telescope: 1st maintenance mission 12 - 1993 - Hubble space telescope: first repair mission 12 - 1993 - Astronauts Story Musgrave (right) and Jeffrey Hoffman, on the arm of the shuttle Endeavour, prepare the installation of the new planetary wide field camera (WFPC2); the old camera is visible at the bottom right of the image; third extravehicular exit. Anchored on the end of Endeavour's Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm, Jeffrey Hoffman (foreground) prepares to install the new Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WFPC II) into the empty cavity (top left) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). WFPC I is seen temporarily stowed at bottom right. Story Musgrave works with a Portable Foot Restraint (PFR) at frame center, as his image is reflected in the shiny surface of the telescope. Hoffman and Musgrave shared chores on three of the five space walks during the STS - 61 mission / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644893: Satellite METOP - A - Artist's view of the European satellite METOP - A in orbit around the Earth. Launch on October 19, 2006, it is the first European meteorological satellite in polar orbit; it includes twelve meteorological instruments. MetOp is a series of three meteorological operational polar orbiting satellites, the first of which, MetOp-1 is the prototype. The instruments on MetOp will produce high - resolution images, vertical temperature and humidity profiles, and temperatures of the land and ocean surface on a global basis. Also on board the satellites will be instruments for monitoring ozone and wind flow over the oceans. The first launch was on October 19 2006 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644915: Hubble Space Telescope: 1st maintenance mission 12 - 1993 - Astronauts install COSTAR during EVA for HST repair - Astronaut Thomas Akers prepares the installation of COSTAR, an instrument intended to correct Hubble's myopia. Kathryn C. Thornton is on the arm of the shuttle Endeavour with the instrument. Fourth extravehicular exit. Astronaut Thomas D. Akers maneuvers inside the bay which will house the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) while assisting astronaut Kathryn C. Thornton with the installation of the 640 - pound instrument. Thornton, anchored on the end of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm, is partially visible as she prepares to install the COSTAR. Dec 1993 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644937: Hubble space telescope: 1st maintenance mission 12 - 1993 - The Hubble space telescope first mission repair - The astronaut Story Musgrave is visible at the bottom of this fish-eye photo during the fifth and last extravehicular exit. Behind the space telescope, and Australia. A fisheye lens was used to capture the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), a spherical Earth and Australian landmass with a bit of distortion during the final space walk on the STS - 61 HST - servicing mission. Astronaut F. Story Musgrave can be seen at bottom of the frame. The STS - 61 mission was launched aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on December 2, 1993 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4644999: Hubble Space Telescope: 2nd maintenance mission 02 - 1997 - Redeployment of the telescope after its second maintenance mission / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645097: Hubble Space Telescope: 3rd Maintenance Mission 12 - 1999 - View of astronauts Steven Smith and John Grunsfeld during the last extravehicular exit of this maintenance mission, 25-12 - 1999 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645100: Hubble Space Telescope: 3rd Maintenance Mission 12 - 1999 - View of astronauts Steven Smith and John Grunsfeld during the last extravehicular exit of this maintenance mission, 25-12 - 1999 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645147: Hubble Space Telescope: 3rd maintenance mission 12 - 1999 - View of the Hubble Space Telescope from the Shuttle after its third maintenance mission, 25 - 12 - 1999 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645163: Hubble Space Telescope: 4th Maintenance Mission 03 - 2002 - Astronauts Richard Linnehan and John Grunsfeld (behind cover) are working on the solar panels of the Hubble Space Telescope. First extravehicular exit of the mission. 4 March 200 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645170: Hubble Space Telescope: 4th Maintenance Mission 03 - 2002 - Astronaut Richard Linnehan changes the solar panels of the Hubble Space Telescope. First extravehicular release of the mission.4 March 200 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645186: Hubble Space Telescope: 4th Maintenance Mission 03 - 2002 - View of the Hubble Space Telescope Catches by the Arm of Shuttle Columbia for its Fourth Maintenance Mission; 3 March 200 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645280: Hubble space telescope: end of 4th maintenance mission 03 - 2002 - View of the Hubble space telescope deployed on March 9, 2002 after its fourth maintenance mission / Bridgeman Images

PIX4645282: Hubble space telescope: 4th maintenance mission 05/2009 - Hubble space telescope: fourth repair mission 05/2009 - The space telescope seen from Shuttle Atlantis before it was captured for its fourth maintenance mission, May 13, 2009. An STS - 125 crewmember onboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis snapped a still photo of the Hubble Space Telescope as the two spacecraft approached each other in Earth orbit prior to the capture of the giant observatory. 13 May 2009 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4646354: Spartan 201 satellite - Spartan 201 satellite seen over the Earth from space shuttle Discovery in September 1994. Astronauts onboard the space shuttle Discovery used a 70 mm camera to capture this photograph of the retrieval operations with the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy 201 (SPARTAN 201). A gibbous moon can be seen in the background. 9 - 20 Sep 1994 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4646376: SolarMax Satellite Repair Mission 04/1984 - Solar Maximum Mission repair 04/1984 - View of astronaut James Van Hoften in space shuttle Challenger hold. The astronaut participates in an extravehicular excursion to repair the Solar Max satellite (Solar Maximum Mission or SMM). 11 April 1984. Wide angle view of mission specialist James D. van Hoften participating in an extravehicular activity (EVA) to repair the “” captured” Solar Maximum Mission Satellite (SMMS) in the aft end of the Challenger's cargo bay. Astronaut van Hoften is standing in the payload bay facing the camera. The Solar SMMS is behind him. To the right of the photo is the remote manipulator system (RMS) arm used to capture the satellite. Behind the orbiter is a view of the cloudy earth. 11/04/198 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4646470: STS-1: Columbia on its shooting pad 03/1981 - STS - 1: Columbia at launch pad. March 1981 - Shuttle Columbia in place on its firing pad for the first flight STS - 1. 05/03/1981. A timed exposure of the Space Shuttle, STS-1, at Launch Pad A, Complex 39, turns the space vehicle and support facilities into a night - time fantasy of light. Structures to the left of the Shuttle are the fixed and the rotating service structure / Bridgeman Images