Before the International Space Station, before the Hubble Space Telescope, before the Shuttle,
before Skylab, before Apollo, before NASA even, there was Lyman Spitzer.
Seventy-five years ago, astronomer Lyman Spitzer envisioned a future for space exploration
that changed our understanding of the cosmos and our place in it.
A visionary behind the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer was among the earliest astronomers
pioneering a revolutionary way to explore the universe through astronomical satellites.
With the publication of his famed paper in 1946, “Astronomical Advantages of an Extra-terrestrial
Observatory,” Spitzer explored the benefits of launching a large reflecting telescope
into orbit around our planet.
His proposal placed these telescopes outside the constraints of Earth’s atmosphere,
enabling both greater access to wavelengths of light not visible from the ground and higher
quality images free of atmospheric effects.
Spitzer made a strong case for large space telescopes that would allow humanity to access
unseen parts of the universe.
Understanding the magnitude of the universe and exploring the structures of galaxies,
globular star clusters, and other planets were the ultimate goals of orbiting observatories.
Spitzer’s vision in 1946 marked a new era for the field of astronomy; 75 years later,
space-based telescopes, like Hubble, are our best lens to the cosmos.
Above Earth’s atmosphere, our unimpeded view allows us to see billions of light-years
back in time, helping us understand the evolution of galaxies and the universe itself.
We’ve seen celestial objects and phenomena through light not visible by the human eye,
offering us a new perspective of our place in the universe.
Spitzer recognized that space telescopes would enable humanity to explore beyond our frontier
of knowledge; “to uncover new phenomena not yet imagined, and perhaps to modify, profoundly,
our basic concepts of space and time."
To this day, the Hubble Space Telescope remains a testament to Spitzer’s vision and a reminder
of what we may yet discover.
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