NASA'S Hubble Makes One Millionth Science Observation

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope crossed another milestone
in its space odyssey of exploration and discovery. On Monday, July 4,
the Earth-orbiting observatory logged its one millionth science
observation during a search for water in an exoplanet's atmosphere
1,000 light-years away.

"For 21 years Hubble has been the premier space science observatory,
astounding us with deeply beautiful imagery and enabling
ground-breaking science across a wide spectrum of astronomical
disciplines," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. He piloted the
space shuttle mission that carried Hubble to orbit. "The fact that
Hubble met this milestone while studying a faraway planet is a
remarkable reminder of its strength and legacy."

Although Hubble is best known for its stunning imagery of the cosmos,
the millionth observation is a spectroscopic measurement, where light
is divided into its component colors. These color patterns can reveal
the chemical composition of cosmic sources.

Hubble's millionth exposure is of the planet HAT-P-7b, a gas giant
planet larger than Jupiter orbiting a star hotter than our sun.
HAT-P-7b, also known as Kepler 2b, has been studied by NASA's
planet-hunting Kepler observatory after it was discovered by
ground-based observations. Hubble now is being used to analyze the
chemical composition of the planet's atmosphere.

"We are looking for the spectral signature of water vapor. This is an
extremely precise observation and it will take months of analysis
before we have an answer," said Drake Deming of the University of
Maryland and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
"Hubble demonstrated it is ideally suited for characterizing the
atmospheres of exoplanets, and we are excited to see what this latest
targeted world will reveal."

Hubble was launched April 24, 1990, aboard space shuttle's Discovery's
STS-31 mission. Its discoveries revolutionized nearly all areas of
astronomical research from planetary science to cosmology. The
observatory has collected more than 50 terabytes of data to-date. The
archive of that data is available to scientists and the public at:

http://hla.stsci.edu/

Hubble's odometer reading includes every observation of astronomical
targets since its launch and observations used to calibrate its suite
of instruments. Hubble made the millionth observation using its Wide
Field Camera 3, a visible and infrared light imager with an on-board
spectrometer. It was installed by astronauts during the Hubble
Servicing Mission 4 in May 2009.

"The Hubble keeps amazing us with groundbreaking science," said Sen.
Barbara A. Mikulski, the chairwoman of the Senate Commerce, Justice,
Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee that funds
NASA. "I championed the mission to repair and renew Hubble not just
to get one million science observations, but also to inspire millions
of children across the planet to become our next generation of
stargazers, scientists, astronauts and engineers."

Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the
European Space Agency. Goddard manages the telescope. The Space
Telescope Science Institute (STScI) conducts Hubble science
operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. in Washington.

For more information about Hubble, galleries of videos and images, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

and

http://hubblesite.org/news/2011/22

For details about the exoplanet Kepler 2b, including an animation of
its orbit, visit:

http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/discoveries/kepler2b/

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