The Hubble Space Telescope Turns 35

On April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Observatory was delivered into Earth orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery. At the time, hardly anyone expected that it would work for so long – a full 35 years and, hopefully, will work for many more years to come. During this time, Hubble made almost 1.7 million observations, which allowed the publication of over 22,000 scientific papers. But the telescope won the love of the general public with its detailed images of the Universe.

Image source: NASA

As has become a long-standing tradition, NASA has released a series of new images of the Universe and space objects taken by Hubble recently to mark the anniversary of the launch and the observatory’s anniversary. These are four images from Mars to distant nebulae and galaxies.

Images of Mars

Hubble’s early work was marred by difficulties. A significant section of the telescope’s mirror — more than two meters — was found to have a manufacturing defect. Astronauts on the Shuttles had to spend about three years repairing the observatory until the telescope improved its focus to the limit. This was made possible by Hubble’s placement in low Earth orbit, since it collected light mainly in the visible and ultraviolet ranges and did not require serious systems for cooling the sensors.

Fragment of the Rosette Nebula

The Columbia shuttle disaster in 2003, with the loss of its crew, almost buried the observatory project, which needed another overhaul. Under pressure from scientists and the public, NASA agreed to conduct the last Hubble servicing mission, which took place in 2009. At that time, NASA expected that the observatory would be able to work for about 10 more years, but it has been operating for 16 years and can continue to work, although almost all of its gyroscopes have already failed. The orientation of the telescope is controlled by one gyroscope, and one remains in reserve.

A broader look at the Rosette Nebula

The anniversary gifts included images of Mars in December 2024 (when the Red Planet made its closest approach to Earth), an image of a fragment of the Rosette Nebula, the planetary nebula NGC 2899, and the spiral galaxy NGC 5335.

Nebula NGC 2899

Mars appears in the images with a bright orange Tharsis plateau in a light haze of clouds with a polar cap. Part of the Rosette Nebula, 5,200 light years from the Sun, is a cluster of dust and gas with zones of new star formation. The nebula NGC 2899, 45,000 light years from Earth, is shown in the image as a fluttering moth – a consequence of the explosion of the central star and the effect of the explosion’s radiation on interstellar dust and gas. The spiral galaxy NGC 5335 is a pronounced barred galaxy through which gas from the peripheral regions flows into its center to form new stars.

Spiral Galaxy NGC 5335

NASA admits that the final breakdown of Hubble is a matter of time. The Habitable Worlds Observatory telescope will be prepared to replace it. In addition to observing the Universe, the HWO observatory will search for habitable worlds as close to the Solar System as possible. The launch of the new observatory is planned for the 1940s.