This is a classic article from New Scientist's archive, republished as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations
MANY claims have been made for the significance of the Hubble Space Telescope. In 1986, for example, Riccardo Giacconi, director of the American institute set up to administer the telescope, said that knowledge gained from Hubble would have as great a sociological impact as the revolutions started by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton. In the light of last week's discovery that the telescope is seriously flawed, such claims will have to be reassessed. So, too, will the enthusiasm with which "big science" projects are often pushed at the expense of more modest - but often no less effective - proposals.
The problems which emerged last week will obviously be a great disappointment to astronomers and others who have spent years developing the telescope. What appear to be design faults with the telescope's mirrors ...
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