Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble Space Telescope

Mission type	Space observatory
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1990-037B
SATCAT no.	20580
Website	www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html
Mission duration	34 years, 3 months and 27 days (ongoing)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin
Start of mission
Launch date	April 24, 1990
Rocket	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center LC-39A
Contractor	NASA
End of mission
Disposal	Deorbited
Decay date	2030-2040 (planned)
Great Observatories Program ← None Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory →

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is the first big optical space observatory telescope. Being above the atmosphere means it can see the sky more clearly than a telescope on the ground. The atmosphere blurs starlight before it reaches Earth. Named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, the Hubble Space Telescope can observe 24 hours a day. The main mirror is 94.5 inches (2.4 meters) across. The telescope can take pictures of things so far away it would be nearly impossible to see them from anywhere else.

It was made by both NASA and the ESA working together. It is 600 km in space and was launched on April 24, 1990. Like other things in low Earth orbit it travels at 5 miles (10 km) per second. If you were going this speed on Earth, you would be able to get from New York to San Francisco in 10 minutes. This speed creates difficulty in scheduling observations.^[1]

The Hubble itself is the size of a large school bus, but still small enough to fit inside the cargo bay of a Space Shuttle. It was repaired in 1993 due to problems in the picture quality.

1. ↑ "HubbleSite - The Telescope - Team Hubble". hubblesite.org. Retrieved 2018-11-01.