24 April 1990
New Moon, 1% lit
Hubble launches
Hubble went up at new moon, and spent its first three years famously short-sighted.
The primary mirror was ground to the wrong shape by about 2.2 micrometres, roughly a fiftieth the width of a human hair, because a test instrument had been assembled incorrectly. A servicing mission in 1993 fitted what amounted to spectacles.
- Date
- 24 April 1990
- Moon computed for
- 12:00 local time, UTCThe time of day is not recorded here, so noon stands in.
- Phase
- New Moon
- Illuminated
- 1%
Source: NASA/STScI