Hubble Space Telescope: Decades of Cosmic Discoveries

  1. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
  2. It orbits about 340 miles (547 km) above Earth, avoiding atmospheric distortion.
  3. Hubble has captured over 1.5 million observations of stars, galaxies, and planets.
  4. Its data helped refine the universe’s age to 13.8 billion years.
  5. The Hubble Deep Field images revealed thousands of galaxies in tiny sky patches.
  6. A mirror flaw initially blurred its images, but astronauts fixed it in 1993.
  7. Hubble has advanced knowledge of dark energy, galaxy evolution, and exoplanet atmospheres.
  8. It observes in visible, ultraviolet, and near-infrared light.
  9. Astronauts serviced Hubble five times, upgrading instruments and extending its life.
  10. Even after three decades, it remains one of the most productive observatories in history.