24 Years with the Hubble Space Telescope

In late April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was successfully launched as part of the mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Despite not the first telescope built exclusively for use in space, the Hubble is one of the biggest and has proved its usefulness to researchers again and again.

Named after astronomer Edwin Hubble, the telescope takes high resolution photographs of space that are of exceptional quality, allowing scientists to see detailed photos of space like none seen before. Approximately forty-three feet in length and weighing more than 24,000 pounds, the Hubble has been in operation since its launch, and still works today, circling us in orbit 347 feet about the Earth's atmosphere.

The idea of using a telescope to explore the solar system has been around for generations. German scientist Hermann Oberth, known as one of the forefathers of rocket science, wrote about how he believed a telescope could be fired into space on a rocket in the 1920s. The Hubble was first planned and funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in the early 1980s. However, the project suffered from several significant delays, including understandable fears that followed the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challengerin 1986.

The Hubble was finally completed and launched in 1990, only for its builders to realize that one of its most important mirrors was malfunctioning. The system was repaired by astronauts visiting the Hubble in 1993. The only space telescope to be regularly checked and repaired by astronauts, the Hubble has received various improvements and upgrades over the yearsjust like your computerto keep it running at its maximum potential. Its most recent service was completed in 2009, and it's expected to remain in working order at least through this year, but probably will be fine for the next five or six years. Can you imagine being the astronaut whose job it is to give the Hubble Telescope its regular check-up?

The Hubble has provided us with spectacular photographs of the vast galaxy surrounding our planet. One example is the famous Pillars of Creation below. The final image of stars forming pillars in the Eagle Nebula, was pieced together from 32 different photographs taken by four of Hubble's five cameras. Isn't it stunning? The photograph is credited to NASA, Jeff Hester, and Paul Scowen.

Another stunning photograph captured by the Hubble's cameras is this famous image of "The Butterfly Nebula" (below; photo courtesy of NASA).