Hubble Space Telescope celebrates 30th anniversary

Hubble Space Telescope celebrates the 30th anniversary on 24 April 2020. The unique design of the telescope has allowed being repaired and upgraded with advanced technology by astronauts. The telescope is one of NASA’s longest-living and most valuable observatories.

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Key-Points

Hubble is expected to sustain through the 2020s. Also, a second-generation space telescope named “James Webb Space Telescope” has been scheduled to launch in 2021.

Hubble was named after astronomer Edwin Hubble who confirmed the Universe was expanding, among other findings.

The space telescope was launched into space aboard the space shuttle Discovery on 24 April 1990. The idea of an orbiting telescope was first conceived by Lyman Spitzer in 1946.

Hubble has allowed the astronomers to measure the acceleration of the universe. It has provided evidence of dark matter and observed atmospheres around exoplanets.

So far, the telescope has made 1.4 million observations with data used in more than 17,000 peer-reviewed papers.