Hubble: Secrets from Space

According to that noted reference work The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, "Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is." Seeing these dazzling Hubble Space Telescope images reminds us of that infinite vastness. In this top-notch documentary produced for the Discovery Channel, we also get an exciting story of human history, science, and unfolding drama. The space telescope is named in honor of Edwin Hubble, an American cosmologist who observed that galaxies were speeding away from each other, creating an expanding, rather than fixed, universe. In 1946, Dr. Lyman Spitzer first proposed a space-based telescope which could look deep into the universe without the interference of earth's hazy atmosphere. Interviewed here, Dr. Spitzer has the satisfaction of knowing that his space telescope is at last a brilliant reality, even if it did have a shaky beginning. After two billion dollars and years of labor, the first images from the space telescope were flawed due to a grinding error of one-fiftieth of the width of a human hair on the primary mirror. How the crushed scientists working on the project effected the repair is an exciting story in itself. The results of the new "eyeglasses" on the mirror have been phenomenal, as the dazzling images shown here attest. One scientist believes that the Hubble Space Telescope will be the most significant development in our understanding of space, as many old scientific theories have already been thrown out and many others scientifically confirmed. Although geared to a high school-to-adult level knowledge base, the video uses plain-English explanations which will help students perhaps as young as age 10 understand many concepts. With solid science, good scripting, insightful interviews, great narration by Martin Sheen, and beautiful "space music" surrounding the wondrous Hubble images, this video is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: I, J, H, C, P. (R. Reagan)