Behind the Scenes Videos

Mary Estacion stands near Launch Pad 39A with Atlantis on the pad before launch.

Watch what it was like behind the scenes during Servicing Mission 4 with Mary Estación.

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Astronauts Upgrade Hubble

STS-125 crew
STS-125: Atlantis

Images, videos and an interactive feature on the historic mission.

› STS-125 Multimedia

Featured Stories

Crab Nebula: A Cosmic Icon

Crab Nebula 2009
11.23.09

Data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory provides clues about the workings of the mighty Crab Nebula.

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Observatories Celebrate International Year of Astronomy

A composite view of the Milky Way Galactic core
11.10.09

NASA is unveiling a new view of the turbulent heart of our Milky Way galaxy, as seen by three of the agency's space-based observatories.

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Hubble Showcases Star Birth in Southern Pinwheel

Hubble Image of M83 galaxy
11.05.09

The spectacular new camera installed on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope during Servicing Mission 4 in May has delivered the most detailed view of star birth in the graceful, curving arms of the nearby ...

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Mission News

  • NGC 4710

    NASA Provides Venerable Hubble Hardware to Smithsonian

    Two key instruments from Hubble have a new home in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum after being returned to Earth aboard space shuttle Atlantis in May 2009.

  • Hubble in orbit with Earth in the foreground.

    Servicing Mission Observatory Verification (SMOV) Update

    Hubble is getting closer to completing the calibrations for most of its instruments, and each day it draws nearer to becoming a fully functioning observatory again. In fact, in the upcoming weeks, Hubble will concentrate on making high-priority science observations and then finish the remaining instrument calibrations by early fall.

  • Hubble in orbit with Earth in the foreground.

    Servicing Mission Observatory Verification (SMOV) Update

    As the first week of August comes to a close, most of Hubble’s science instruments have already completed or are close to completing their calibration activities. Each instrument has multiple channels that detect different wavelengths of light, and each channel must be tested and calibrated individually. While some instrument channels are still under evaluation, several others are already at work studying the universe.

  • Hubble in orbit with Earth in background

    Hubble Space Telescope Status Report

    Hubble engineers are encouraged by the recent restart attempt of an instrument that has been inoperable since Sept. 10, 2008.

Servicing Mission Feature Series

  • Zolt Levay (left), and Vanessa Thomas, review data retrieved from the Hubble Space Telescope archive

    The Hubble Space Telescope Observing Program

    Unlike on many previous NASA space science missions, anyone can apply for observing time on the Hubble Space Telescope.

  • Goddard engineers hold a New Outer Blanket Layer

    Improving Hubble’s Space Armor

    When astronauts return to Hubble for Servicing Mission 4 in 2009, they will be revamping and reenergizing the telescope for the final leg of its journey. One of the tasks they aim to complete is the installation of New Outer Blanket Layers, or NOBLs.

  • Astronaut Andrew Feustel practices installing the Fastener Capture Plate

    Hubble Instruments Slated for On-Orbit 'Surgery'

    When astronauts visit the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009 for its final servicing mission, they will be facing a task that has no precedence – performing on-orbit 'surgery' on two ailing science instruments that reside inside the telescope.

World Book at NASA

  • Edwin Hubble

    Edwin P. Hubble

    The work of American astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble revolutionized our understanding of the size and structure of the universe.

Related Links

Interactive Features

Hubble Accomplishments

  • image of the galaxy NGC 4603

    Age of the Universe  →

    Thanks in part to the Hubble Space Telescope, we know the universe is 13.7 billion years old.

  • DL Tau image

    At Galaxies' Cores  →

    Nearly all galaxies may harbor supermassive black holes.

  • image of supernova seen by HST

    How Planets Form

    The Hubble Space Telescope has helped scientists determine the process of how planets are born.

  • artist concept of HD 189733b

    Extrasolar Organic Matter

    The Hubble Space Telescope detected the first organic molecule discovered on a planet outside our solar system.

  • DL Tau image

    Dark Energy  →

    The Hubble Space Telescope detected a distant supernova that suggests the universe only recently began speeding up.

Hubble HD Video

Related Multimedia