Object Details
Manufacturer
Martin Marietta
Summary
The Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS), one of the original axial instruments launched with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in April 1990, provided confirming evidence for a massive black hole in 1994 in the giant elliptical galaxy M87. It also engaged in many other observing programs, observing individual stars in other galaxies as well as the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter. But most significantly it refined quantitative measurements of the characteristics of massive black holes from studies of accretion disks at the centers of galaxies. After almost seven years of service, FOS was removed from HST on February 13, 1997 by the Space Shuttle crew (STS 82, Discovery) during a servicing mission to provide room for a new instrument. The instrument was transferred to NASM by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in 1999.
Credit Line
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Date
1999
Inventory Number
A19990075000
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
INSTRUMENTS-Scientific
Materials
Black aluminum and mixed metal box mounted vertically on a 4x4 foot aluminum plate. The box protects a precision framework of metal that constitutes an optical bench consisting of optical components, electronic detectors and baffles.
Dimensions
3-D (Object Only): 100.3 × 90.2 × 222.9cm, 499.9kg (3 ft. 3 1/2 in. × 2 ft. 11 1/2 in. × 7 ft. 3 3/4 in., 1102lb.)
Support (Rolling Base Only): 130.2 × 22.9 × 130.2cm (4 ft. 3 1/4 in. × 9 in. × 4 ft. 3 1/4 in.)
Country of Origin
United States of America
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nasm_A19990075000