A simple mistake in properly setting up a measuring device caused millions of dollars to be spent in correcting the initial optical failure of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This short article is intended as a lesson for a physics laboratory and discussion of errors in measurement.

1.
For a brief history of the Hubble Space Telescope, visit http://www.history.nasa.gov/hubble/index.html. For a detailed account of the Hubble Space Telescope, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope.
2.
For extensive information, including a free e-book, about the 25th-year anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope and more, visit http://hubble25th.org/.
3.
The Hubble Space Telescope Optical Systems Failure Report
,”
NASA-TM-103443
(
Nov.
1990
), (available online, enter title in search engine.)
4.
“Report of the HST Strategy Panel: A Strategy for Recovery,” edited by
R. A.
Brown
and
H. C.
Ford
(
Space Telescope Science Institute
,
Baltimore, MD
,
1990
), p.
74
, and
R. L.
White
and
C. J.
Burrows
, “The HST Spherical Aberration and its Effects on Images,” in
The Restoration of HST Images and Spectra: Proceedings of a Workshop Held at the Space Telescope Science Institute
, edited by
R. L.
White
and
R. J.
Allen
(
Baltimore, MD
,
1990
), pp.
2
6
.
5.
Communication Aberration
,”
NASA, System Failure Case Studies
(
July
2011
), https://nsc.nasa.gov/SFCS/SystemFailureCaseStudy/Details/70.
6.
C.
Pellerin
,
How NASA Builds Teams: Mission Critical Soft Skills for Scientists, Engineers, and Project Teams
(
Wiley
,
Hoboken, NJ
,
2009
).
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