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Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope is one of the largest and most versatile space-based
telescopes in operation.
Famous for its beautiful photos of distant stars and galaxies, its deployment marked
the most significant advencement in astronomy since the invention of Galileo's telescope
more than four hundred years ago.
Before the invention of the telescope, all we knew about our universe was what could
be seen by the naked eye.
With the increased magnification provided by telescopes, incredible discoveries were made.
Saturn had rings!
Jupiter had moons!
And the Milky Way was not just a cloud, but a span of endless stars so far away their
lights appeared as a faint glow.
Over the years telescopes became larger and more complex in an effort to see farther into
space, but there were limits to what could be done.
The lights from cities drowned out the light of faint stars, so astronomers went to isolated
locations.
The clouds and the haze of the atmosphere got in the way, too, so astronomers built
their observatories on mountaintops and islands.
By the 20th century, it was suggested that the problems of both light and atmosphere
could be solved by putting a telescope into space.
The first operational space telescope, nicknamed 'Stargazer,' was launched in 1968, and carried
out observations for four years before it was shut down.
Stargazer's success proved to astronomers that there was a need for a larger, more permanent
space telescope, but nearly twenty years would pass before this goal could be achieved.
Years of tireless work by scientists and astronomers produced the Hubble Space Telescope.
It was named for the American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble, famous for his discovery that other
galaxies exist outside our own.
On April 24th, 1990, the space shuttle Discovery launched, carrying the Hubble Space Telescope,
which it released into low earth orbit, 340 miles or 547 kilometers above the earth.
Powered by 25 foot solar panels, the Hubble Telescope orbits the earth every 95 minutes.
Only 14 feet or 4.2 meters in diameter at its widest point, it is more than 45 feet
or 13 meters long, about the length of a big school bus.
The Hubble telescope weighs about 27,000 pounds or 12,000 kilograms, about the same as two
adult elephants.
The Hubble telescope is noteworthy because it is the only space telescope designed to
be repaired by astronauts in space.
Astronauts have taken five trips to date to repair or upgrade the telescope, so that it
continues its mission of discovery more than 30 years after its launch.
From its position in orbit, the Hubble Telescope can take beautiful clear pictures of objects
in deep space.
Over the three decades it has spent in operation, it has made more than one million observations.
It has detected black holes, helped scientists understand the way planets and galaxies form,
and it can even see planets that orbit other stars!
In addition, the Hubble telescope has given us some of the most beautiful and iconic images
of our universe that have ever been captured.
Although it was originally intended to serve for only fifteen years, the Hubble telescope
still works today, and may continue to function until 2030 or beyond.
Until then, astronomers all around the world rely on the Hubble to collect ground-breaking
scientific observations that help us to expand our understanding of the universe.
I hope you enjoyed learning about the Hubble Space Telescope today.
Goodbye till next time!