Introduction
From the dawn of humankind to a mere 400 years ago, all that we knew about our universe came through observations with the naked eye. Then Galileo turned his telescope toward the heavens in 1610. The world was in for an awakening.
Saturn, we learned, had rings. Jupiter had moons. That nebulous patch across the center of the sky called the Milky Way was not a cloud but a collection of countless stars. Within but a few years, our notion of the natural world would be forever changed. A scientific and societal revolution quickly ensued.
In the centuries that followed, telescopes grew in size and complexity and, of course, power. They were placed far from city lights and as far above the haze of the atmosphere as possible. Edwin Hubble, for whom the Hubble Telescope is named, used the largest telescope of his day in the 1920's at the Mt. Wilson Observatory near Pasadena, California, to discover galaxies beyond our own.
Hubble, the observatory, is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space, the ultimate mountaintop. Above the distortion of the atmosphere, far far above rain clouds and light pollution, Hubble has an unobstructed view of the universe. Scientists have used Hubble to observe the most distant stars and galaxies as well as the planets in our solar system.
From far to near, from the earliest moments in the universe to current sandstorms on the surface of Mars... Hubble's launching in 1990 marks the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo's telescope. Our view of the universe and our place within it has never been the same.
Image credit: STScI.
Saturn, we learned, had rings. Jupiter had moons. That nebulous patch across the center of the sky called the Milky Way was not a cloud but a collection of countless stars. Within but a few years, our notion of the natural world would be forever changed. A scientific and societal revolution quickly ensued.
In the centuries that followed, telescopes grew in size and complexity and, of course, power. They were placed far from city lights and as far above the haze of the atmosphere as possible. Edwin Hubble, for whom the Hubble Telescope is named, used the largest telescope of his day in the 1920's at the Mt. Wilson Observatory near Pasadena, California, to discover galaxies beyond our own.
Hubble, the observatory, is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space, the ultimate mountaintop. Above the distortion of the atmosphere, far far above rain clouds and light pollution, Hubble has an unobstructed view of the universe. Scientists have used Hubble to observe the most distant stars and galaxies as well as the planets in our solar system.
From far to near, from the earliest moments in the universe to current sandstorms on the surface of Mars... Hubble's launching in 1990 marks the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo's telescope. Our view of the universe and our place within it has never been the same.
Image credit: STScI.
History of Hubble
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The Hubble Story
A detailed look at the Hubble Space Telescope from idea to conception to blast off into space. Learn all about the project from its infancy to the maturing telescope it was when launched over 16 years ago.
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Historical Milestones of the Hubble Project
Explore the development of the Hubble Space Telescope and learn about the important dates in history that has contributed to the success of the telescope.
Mission Factoids
In its 20 years of viewing the heavens, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has made more than 930,000 observations and snapped over 570,000 images of 30,000 celestial objects.
In its 20-year lifetime the telescope has made more than 110,000 trips around our planet.
With those trips, Hubble has racked up plenty of frequent-flier miles, about 2.8 billion, which is Neptune's average distance from the Sun.
The 20 years' worth of observations has produced more than 45 terabytes of data, enough information to fill nearly 5,800 DVDs.
Each month the orbiting observatory generates more than 360 gigabytes of data, which could fill the storage space of an average home computer.
About 4,000 astronomers from all over the world have used the telescope to probe the universe.
Astronomers using Hubble data have published more than 8,700 scientific papers, making it one of the most productive scientific instruments ever built. In 2009 scientists published 648 journal articles on Hubble telescope data.
Hubble weighs 24,500 pounds -- as much as two full-grown elephants.
Hubble's primary mirror is 2.4 meters (7 feet, 10.5 inches) across -- taller than retired NBA player Gheorghe Muresan, who is 2.3 meters (7 feet, 7 inches) tall. Muresan is the tallest man ever to play in the NBA.
Hubble is 13.3 meters (43.5 feet) long -- the length of a large school bus.