Hubble image archive

Replacing the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (1993)

Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman removes Wide Field and Planetary Camera 1 (WFPC 1) during change-out operations. It is replaced with its more powerful successor, Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, during Hubble’s first servicing mission in 1993. The camera, shaped something like a gran...

Date
Apr 24, 1990
Mission
Hubble Space Telescope
Archive ID
hubblesite-images-3823-image
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Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman removes Wide Field and Planetary Camera 1 (WFPC 1) during change-out operations. It is replaced with its more powerful successor, Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, during Hubble’s first servicing mission in 1993. The camera, shaped something like a grand piano, weighs 610 pounds (277 kg) on Earth, but nothing in space. It can detect stars a billion times fainter than the ones we can see with our eyes. Most of Hubble's most popular pictures have been taken with this second camera.

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NASA

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Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.

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