Happy 25th Birthday, Hubble!

On April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit. It has transformed what we know about outer space, from our own solar system to the edges of the universe.

It has shown us some of the first galaxies ever formed and helped us learn the age of the universe.

Hubble is able to take awesome images because it orbits above the Earth’s atmosphere. The atmosphere can blur images taken from Earth and block the light from space.

Hubble images of stardust and galaxies have united our planet in wonder.

The Mini Page talked with a senior project scientist at NASA to learn more about this amazing telescope. NASA has sent astronauts to service the Hubble five times since its launch. The first images Hubble sent back were blurry, and scientists realized the telescope’s main mirror had a flaw.

The first service mission, in 1993, was to install lenses to correct the blurriness. Astronauts last serviced Hubble in 2009. They installed new instruments and batteries. Hubble is at its best right now. NASA expects it will keep making great scientific discoveries until at least 2020, and hopefully beyond that. But when its instruments start to fail, NASA no longer has a way to fix them.

Hubble was designed to work hand- in-hand with the space shuttle, but shuttles are no longer flying. Newer vehicles such as Orion are not being designed to dock with Hubble to perform upgrades.

But for now, Hubble is still discovering wonders. For example, it recently found strong evidence of an underground saltwater sea on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. Experts believe it has more water than all the water on the Earth’s surface.

PHOTO COURTESY NASA, ESA, AND THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCIAURA) Stars are forming inside these towering columns of gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula. This site, named the Pillars of Creation, is one of the Hubble’s best-known images. Hubble has helped us understand how stars are born and how they die.

Hubble was the first major optical, or visual light, telescope to be launched into space. It was named after astronomer Edwin Hubble. It orbits the Earth every 97 minutes and is about the size of a schoolbus. It is a joint project of NASA and the...