Eyes on the universe

Staff writer Elizabeth McBride profiles UW-Madison astronomy Prof. Robert Bless, who's worked on the Hubble Space Telescope since 1971. Scheduled for launch in March 1990, it may yield profound insights into the origins and fate of the universe. "So far," Bless explains, "the empirical evidence suggests the universe is flying apart so rapidly, it will never come to a halt." Hubble includes an instrument, built at the UW, with which Bless hopes to study black holes. He thinks Hubble may find proof that other solar systems exist: "And then we have to ask ourselves, what's special about us when there is something like us just next door?" Beset by early setbacks, Hubble has been repaired and updated in a series of maintenance missions, most recently this past May; early this month NASA released a spectacular new collection of Hubble images. Bless is now an emeritus professor of astronomy here.