# Hubble's Resurrection: From Blurry to Brilliant

# This is your Astronomy Tonight podcast.

**February 21st: A Day When Humanity Reached for the Stars**

On this date in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope captured what would become one of the most iconic images in the history of astronomy – and it almost never happened.

Picture this: It's February 21st, and the Hubble had been in orbit for about eight months. The scientific community was in absolute *panic mode*. Despite being the most expensive scientific instrument ever launched at that time – a whopping $1.5 billion – Hubble had a problem. A pretty significant one, actually. A flaw in its primary mirror meant that images were coming back blurry, fuzzy, and frankly, disappointing. Astronomers were devastated. The media was merciless. Late-night comedians were having a field day calling it the "Hubble Trouble."

But on February 21st, 1990, astronauts conducted the first of several servicing missions that would essentially perform corrective "eye surgery" on Hubble – installing corrective optics that were like giving the telescope a pair of prescription glasses. And it *worked*. Within weeks, Hubble began sending back images of breathtaking clarity, revealing galaxies, nebulae, and cosmic wonders in stunning detail.

This moment reminded us that sometimes the greatest discoveries come not from perfection, but from perseverance and the willingness to problem-solve under pressure.

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