4.6 Astronomical Data & Collection Methods

The Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble, the observatory, is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space, the ultimate mountaintop. Above the distortion of the atmosphere, far far above rain clouds and light pollution, Hubble has an unobstructed view of the universe. Scientists have used Hubble to observe the most distant stars and galaxies as well as the planets in our solar system. Hubble's launch and deployment aboard the space shuttle Discovery, in April 1990, marked the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo's telescope. Thanks to four servicing missions and more than 25 years of operation, our view of the universe and our place within it has never been the same.

Hubble is one of the most productive scientific instruments ever built. Hubble does not travel to stars, planets or galaxies. It takes pictures of them as it whirls around Earth at about 17,000 mph. Hubble has traveled more than 4 billion miles along a circular low Earth orbit currently about 340 miles in altitude. Hubble has peered back into the very distant past, to locations more than 13.4 billion light years from Earth. Hubble weighed about 24,000 pounds at launch and currently weighs about 27,000 pounds following the final servicing mission in 2009 – on the order of two full-grown African elephants. Hubble's primary mirror is 2.4 meters (7 feet, 10.5 inches) across. Hubble is 13.3 meters (43.5 feet) long -- the length of a large school bus.