Astro 1 In Orbit
STS-35 Crew, NASA
In December of 1990, the
Space Shuttle Columbia carried an
array of astronomical telescopes
high above the Earth's obscuring atmosphere
to observe the Universe at ultraviolet and x-ray wavelengths.
The telescopes, known by the acronyms
UIT,
HUT,
WUPPE, and
BBXRT,
are seen here in
Columbia's payload bay against a
spectacular view of the constellation Orion. The
ultraviolet telescopes
were mounted on a common structure - HUT is visible in this view along with
a star tracker (the silver cone at the left). The mission studied
solar system, galactic, and extra-galactic sources.