5.8: Space-Based Telescopes
The Hubble Space Telescope
Space-based telescopes allow for observations outside the Earth’s atmosphere and light pollution. Probably the most-famous of the space-based telescopes is the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). NASA plans to launch the Webb Space Telescope in 2018. There are a number of planetary and Solar System probes.
Orbiters go into orbit around a specific body to study that body over a period of time. And landers and rovers go to the body’s surface, either stationary or as a rover. Scientists and engineers have also developed and launched telescopes that study objects at specific wavelengths; usually these study narrow wavelengths. These include space telescopes that study the Infrared (IR), Ultraviolet (UV), Gamma, and Cosmic rays.