The Hubble Space Telescope: 35 Years in Orbit
Yo, so the Hubble Space Telescope is turning 35! That’s right, it launched back on April 24, 1990. The Tarantula Nebula, which is about 161,000 light-years away, is where it’s at—packed with ionized hydrogen gas and supernova remnants. NASA/ESA, you rock.
So, like, 35 years ago, the Hubble Space Telescope started its epic journey when it hitched a ride on the space shuttle Discovery and got blasted off into history. The next day, a robotic arm gently pushed it into orbit from the shuttle’s cargo bay. And just like that, Hubble was on a roll, peeping at the stars through its massive 2.4-meter-wide mirror—the biggest one to ever hit space at the time.
NGC 6302, also known as the Butterfly Nebula, is located super far away, like between 2,500 and 3,800 light-years in Scorpius. It’s all about that near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. The nebula is all about some dying stars spitting out gas at crazy hot temperatures and super-fast speeds, creating those beautiful “wings” of the butterfly.
Over the years, Hubble has been like a data-gathering machine, pulling in over 1.6 million observations and 430 terabytes of data. It’s shown us that big galaxies have supermassive black holes lurking in their centers, Jupiter’s moon Europa might be spraying water into space, and eventually, our Milky Way is gonna crash into Andromeda. It’s a cosmic soap opera, folks.
Now, not to rain on the parade, but the Hubble mission almost went belly up. It was in the works for decades, even making a cameo in a Superman comic in ’72, before finally making it to space in 1990. But then, the astronomers were like, “Uh, why is everything blurry?” Turns out, there was a tiny flaw in the mirror messing things up.
Fast forward to today, and that same mirror is still doing its thing up there. Luckily, Hubble was designed to be fixed by astronauts in space. NASA’s first big repair mission went down in December ’93, with astronauts doing five spacewalks to install a new camera and some fancy gadgets to fix the blurry vision. Teamwork makes the dream work, right?
There have been more shuttle missions in ’97, ’99, ’02, and ’09, each giving Hubble new life and better gear. The observatory’s view keeps expanding, and we keep getting more mind-blowing images.
But now, here’s the kicker: Hubble’s days might be numbered. Since 2009, there haven’t been any more shuttle missions, and the wear and tear of space travel is catching up. Hardware failures are piling up, and the folks at NASA are doing everything they can to keep it running. But, like all good things, Hubble might be heading for retirement soon.
In 2024, NASA announced that Hubble was down to one working gyroscope, slowing down its operations. And on top of that, the Earth’s atmosphere is tugging Hubble closer, possibly leading to a fiery end next decade. It’s like a space drama unfolding before our eyes.
Despite all the drama, there’s still hope for Hubble. Billionaire Jared Isaacman proposed a new servicing mission in 2022, but NASA turned it down in 2024. Isaacman’s now in the running to head NASA, but who knows if he’ll get the gig. The fate of Hubble hangs in the balance.
So, as we celebrate 35 years of Hubble’s cosmic journey, let’s remember the incredible discoveries it’s made and the stunning images it’s beamed back to Earth. It’s been a wild ride, and who knows what the future holds for this iconic telescope. Stay tuned, space fans.
