Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2

Brought back to Earth by the U.S. Space Shuttle, the WFPC is loaded for transport after display at JPL on its way to its final home at the National Air and Space Museum in 2010
Quantum efficiency of the CCD chip in the camera

The Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) is a camera formerly installed on the Hubble Space Telescope. The camera was built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is roughly the size of a baby grand piano. It was installed by servicing mission 1 (STS-61) in 1993, replacing the telescope's original Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC). WFPC2 was used to image the Hubble Deep Field in 1995, the Engraved Hourglass Nebula and Egg Nebula in 1996, and the Hubble Deep Field South in 1998. During STS-125, WFPC2 was removed and replaced with the Wide Field Camera 3 as part of the mission's first spacewalk on May 14, 2009. After returning to Earth, the camera was displayed briefly at the National Air and Space Museum and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory before returning to its final home at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.[1][2]

  1. ^ ""The Camera that Saved Hubble" Coming to the Smithsonian". May 27, 2009. Archived from the original on October 13, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  2. ^ "The Camera That Saved Hubble Leaves the Nest". JPL / NASA. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2010.