Hubble Legacy

This is the definitive book on the Hubble Space Telescope, written by noted astronomer Jim Bell.

The invention of the telescope has been by far the most revolutionary development in the history of astronomy. For thousands of years, astronomers had to rely on their eyes in unraveling the mysteries of the Universe. Then, 400 years ago, something entirely new happened: Galileo turned a homemade arrangement of magnifying glasses to the skies. The telescope revealed a wealth of astronomical riches, and led to a dramatic increase of knowledge about the wider world we live in.

We all know Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Sally Ride, and other icons of America's space program. But behind the scenes, engineers have been the secret heroes, building the spacecraft and instruments that have helped man leave Earth and explore the stars. We reveal the inside stories of how these brilliant minds created such superior machines as the Saturn V moon rocket, the Space Shuttle, and the Hubble Space Telescope, often against incredible odds.