On April 24, 1990, the famous Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit. The spacecraft was the first space-based telescope ever built.
Development started in 1974, a joint endeavor of NASA and the European Space Agency or ESA. The idea for the school bus-sized telescope originated in the late ‘60s.
Hubble launched on the space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-31 from pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. The mission lasted for five days and the crew of four traveled an estimated 2.1 million miles. Hubble was the 35th mission of the space shuttle program.
Hubble analyzes light reflected by its massive almost eight-foot primary mirror using various cameras across the electromagnetic spectrum, interferometers and spectrometers. It then sends this data back to Earth via high-gain antennas. Hubble runs on solar energy to power the entire craft. To align itself with its target, Hubble turns a specific reaction wheel opposite the target, acting upon Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion.
Hubble has contributed significantly to countless scientific discoveries. In particular, Hubble is known for its deep-field images; a wide field of view in a darker area of the sky. This technique has helped scientists to catalog thousands of new galaxies and find some of the oldest stars in the universe. The telescope has proven Einstein’s theories and contributed to multiple Nobel prizes in physics.
