Grand Opening: Hubble Exhibit at KSC

Two former NASA astronauts and a key program manager will be on hand at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Friday for the grand opening of an exhibition of stunning images captured over the years by NASA's incomparable Hubble Space Telescope.

Eye On The Universe points up discoveries that have changed the way humans view the universe while allowing people to see ancient stars, nebulas and galaxies as works of art.

Launched in April 1990 aboard shuttle Discovery, the flagship observatory has enabled scientists to pin down the age of the universe -- 13.7 billion years -- confirm the existence of black holes and detect for the first time atmospheres around planets in other solar systems while providing the deepest views yet of the universe.

But images from the 18-year-old telescope also can be seen as works of art -- aesthetic astronomy. Some of the most vibrant images collected by Hubble scientists and engineers will be on display in the exhibition.

The 2 p.m. opening had been slated to coincide with the planned Oct. 14 launch of shuttle Atlantis and seven astronauts on NASA's fifth and final Hubble telescope servicing mission. The STS-125/SM-4 mission, however, is being pushed back until at least February as a result of a critical parts failure last weekend on the observatory.

A device the controls Hubble instruments and formats science data failed, forcing a shutdown of the observatory. NASA plans to switch to an onboard back-up later this week, but that will still leave the telescope vulnerable to a single failure. So NASA is delaying the mission until a unit used for ground tests can be certified for flight in space and shipped to Kennedy Space Center for launch processing.

Attending the grand opening:

++Loren Shriver, the commander of STS-31, the mission during which the telescope was deployed a day after an April 24, 1990, launch.

++Story Musgrave, the payload commander and lead spacewalker on STS-61, the December 1993 mission during which astronauts fixed Hubble's "spherical aberration" -- the primary mirror flaw that went undetected prior to launch.

++Frank Cepollina, the veteran Hubble program manager who help put in place plans for a series of wildly successful servicing missions.

Outgoing KSC Director Bill Parsons, who is departing NASA in mid-October for a job in the private sector, will speak along with Daniel LeBlanc, chief operating officer of Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts of KSC, the firm that operates the KSC Visitor Complex.

The grand-opening program is expected to last 40 minutes and is included with the cost of admission to the KSC Visitor Complex. Tickets are $38 for adults and $28 for children.

IMAGE NOTES: Click to enlarge the Hubble image (top) of the Sombrero Galaxy in infrared light. Then click the enlarged image to get an even bigger view. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). The second shows light echoes from the red supergiant star V838 Monocerotis. Credit: NASA, ESA and H.E. Bond (STScI). The last is of the Cat's Eye Nebula, a dying star creating a fantasy-like sculpture of gas and dust. Credit: NASA, ESA, HEIC, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).