NASA Programs
Hubble Space Telescope
A reflecting telescope in orbit—and the Shuttle servicing missions that saved it.
The Hubble Space Telescope is the flagship of NASA’s Great Observatories. Deployed from Discovery on STS-31 in April 1990, it suffered from a flawed primary mirror that blurred its early images. The first servicing mission in 1993 installed corrective optics and turned Hubble into the sharpest eye astronomy had ever placed above the atmosphere.
Four more Shuttle servicing missions upgraded instruments, replaced failed hardware and boosted its orbit. Hubble’s deep fields, planetary images and measurements of cosmic expansion reshaped public and scientific understanding of the universe.
Hubble continues to operate alongside newer observatories, including the James Webb Space Telescope, which observes primarily in the infrared while Hubble covers ultraviolet and visible light.
Milestones
- 1990-04-25Deployment — STS-31 places Hubble in orbit.
- 1993-12Servicing Mission 1 — Corrective optics restore sharp vision.
- 2009-05Servicing Mission 4 — The final Shuttle servicing visit extends Hubble’s life.
Summary original to flyARIA.com. Photograph: NASA. NASA images are generally not protected by copyright in the United States; credit does not imply endorsement.