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Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on April 24, 2010

Today’s haunting Google logo, shown above, commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Hubble Space telescope being launched into orbit.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a space shuttle on April 24, 1990. It was named to honor the late American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), who made one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century when he discovered that the universe was expanding, which provided the basis for the “big bang theory.” Hubble also devised the most commonly used system for classifying galaxies, grouping them according to their appearance in photographic images. He arranged the different groups of galaxies, now called the “Hubble sequence.”

American scientist Edwin Hubble - the Hubble Space Telescope was named after him for his discovery of the expansion of the universe

Although it’s not the first space telescope, the Hubble telescope is one of the largest and most versatile, and is both a vital research tool and a public relations asset for the astronomy field. The Hubble telescope is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, and is one of NASA’s Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. Hubble is the only telescope ever designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. Millions of images from space have been captured by the telescope over the past two decades.

Space-based telescopes are capable of taking better photos than those that are Earth-based — photographic shots from the Hubble include exploding stars and other galaxies. It has been determined by NASA scientists that the Hubble telescope can only function for about five more years.

Statistics on the Hubble Space Telescope:

Hubble Space Telescope’s Size:

* Length: 43.5 ft (13.2 m)
* Weight: 24,500 lb (11,110 kg)
* Maximum Diameter: 14 ft (4.2 m)

Hubble is nearly the size of a large school bus—but it can fit inside a space shuttle cargo bay.

Cost at Launch:

$1.5 billion

Spaceflight Statistics:

* The Hubble Space Telescope whirls around Earth at a speed of 5 miles per second.
* Orbit: At an altitude of 307 nautical miles (569 km, or 353 miles), inclined 28.5 degrees to the equator (low-Earth orbit)
* Time to Complete One Orbit: 97 minutes
* Speed: 17,500 mph (28,000 kph)

Data Stats:

Hubble transmits about 120 gigabytes of science data every week. That’s equal to about 3,600 feet (1,097 meters) of books on a shelf. The rapidly growing collection of pictures and data is stored on magneto-optical disks.

Power Needs:

* Energy source: the Sun
* Mechanism: two 25-foot solar panels
* Power usage: 2,800 watts

In an average orbit, Hubble uses about the same amount of energy as 28 100-watt light bulbs.

Pointing Accuracy:

In order to take images of distant, faint objects, Hubble must be extremely steady and accurate. The telescope is able to lock onto a target without deviating more than 7/1000th of an arcsecond, or about the width of a human hair seen at a distance of 1 mile.

Aiming Hubble is like holding a laser light steady on a dime that is 200 miles away.

Hubble Space Telescope’s mirrors:

* Primary Mirror
o Diameter: 94.5 in (2.4 m)
o Weight: 1,825 lb (828 kg)

* Secondary Mirror
o Diameter: 12 in (0.3 m)
o Weight: 27.4 lb (12.3 kg)

Both of Hubble’s mirrors were ground in such a way that they do not deviate from a perfect curve by more than 1/800,000ths of an inch.

Breathtaking photographic images have been captured by the Hubble telescope over the past 20 years.

From The Sun, Spectacular new view of the sun:

A solar flare so big it could encase more than 100 Earths is seen exploding from the sun’s surface.

The amazing image is one of the first spectacular pictures to come from a new NASA space probe, taken with UK-built cameras.

Images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, which are ten times more detailed than HD tellies, are giving scientists their most detailed view ever of our home star.

Ten powerful cameras were made by experts at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Swindon, Wilts, using sensitive “electronic film”.

Explosion on the sun, large enough to hold 100 Earths - Hubble Space Telescope captured this photo

Images from space…

Look! Up in the Sky! The Very Best of Hubble

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