Launched on April 24th, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope is the first major optical telescope placed in space. Operating now for twenty-eight years and with five missions sent up to service it, Hubble is an important landmark in the world of astronomy. Not impressed yet? Allow us to list some of its accomplishments then!
– Hubble has to be steady to take accurate photos of objects. How steady? It can lock on a target without deviating any more than the width of the human hair.
– Hubble uses the sun as its energy source.
– Traveling at around 17,000 mph around Earth, Hubble is one speedy machine.
– Hubble has already orbited the Earth more than 163,000 times.
– Hubble is the size of a school bus and weighs about 26,000 pounds.
– Hubble has already traveled 4 billion miles and will continue its journey in space until at least 2030. That’s one long trip away from home!
Check out some of the photos that the Hubble telescope took!
Object Name: Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8)
Object Description: Emission Nebula
Constellation: Sagittarius
Distance: The nebula is located 4,000 light-years away from Earth.
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