# What it takes to launch a telescope

- Institution: TED
- Department: TED2019
- Speaker: Erika Hamden
- Year: 2019
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Physics, Astronomy and space
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/erika_hamden_what_it_takes_to_launch_a_telescope)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

TED Fellow and astronomer Erika Hamden leads the team building FIREBall, a telescope that hangs from a giant balloon at the very edge of space and looks for clues about how stars are created. She takes us inside the roller-coaster, decade-long journey to get the telescope from an idea into orbit -- and shows how failure is inevitable when you're pushing the limits of knowledge.

## Lectures

1. [What it takes to launch a telescope](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/erika_hamden_what_it_takes_to_launch_a_telescope/e3a2047a21d5), 8 min (TED's player)