Hubble Space Telescope
Robotic missionActive
Hubble combines a serviceable orbital telescope with more than three decades of ultraviolet-to-infrared astronomy
Hubble Space Telescope launched on April 24, 1990 into , roughly 300 miles (483 kilometers) high. The about 24,000 pounds (10,900 kilograms) at launch observatory carried 2.4-meter ultraviolet, visible-light, and near-infrared telescope with replaceable cameras, spectrographs, and fine-guidance sensors. Five astronaut servicing missions corrected its primary-mirror aberration, replaced instruments and major systems, and repeatedly renewed an observatory whose deep fields, distance-scale measurements, planetary studies, and expanding-universe results reshaped modern astronomy.
Mission photo archive
Reviewed images documenting Hubble Space Telescope. Each image includes its source and credit.
Hubble ACS observation of Messier 92
Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys observation of globular cluster Messier 92, published by ESA/Hubble as potw1449a in December 2014. A composite of F606W optical and F814W near-infrared measurements in assigned display colors.
Hubble Space Telescope official archive image
Official NASA archive imagery explicitly cataloged for Hubble Space Telescope.
Launch record
Explore this mission’s launch, including its vehicle, launch site, payload, and outcome.
OV-103 HST mission
launch attemptOrbital attemptcompletedNo reviewed launch image7 connectionsMission dossier
Flight profile, locations, hardware, and outcome in the same reference format used throughout the archive.
Flight profile
- Launch
- April 24, 1990[1]
Places and recovery
Mission record
- Operator
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Space Telescope Science Institute[1]
- Mission type
- Uncrewed orbital astronomy observatory[1]
- Launch vehicle
- Space Shuttle Discovery[1]
- Launch mass
- about 24,000 pounds (10,900 kilograms) at launch[1]
- Program
- Great Observatories[1]
- Crew complement
- 0[1]
- Science payload
- 2.4-meter ultraviolet, visible-light, and near-infrared telescope with replaceable cameras, spectrographs, and fine-guidance sensors[1]
- Outcome
- Active[1]
Trajectory profile
2 sourcesFollow the mission from departure through its flight environment, destination, and final phase. This sequence is not a scale orbital plot.
Mission locations
2 sourcesDocumented surface, test, landing, and recovery locations. Map links use the cited place name or exact coordinates; AstronautAtlas does not geocode or estimate missing positions.
Departure or test site
Launch site
Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral, Florida
Mission Purpose
2 sources- Observe the universe above atmospheric distortion from ultraviolet through near-infrared wavelengths, resolve faint and distant objects, measure cosmic distances and expansion, and provide a long-lived general-observer facility.
- Commission and calibrate Hubble Space Telescope observatory, its pointing, thermal, power, communications, command, recording, and science-processing systems.
- Conduct survey and guest-observer investigations while releasing calibrated data products to the research community.
- Five astronaut servicing missions corrected its primary-mirror aberration, replaced instruments and major systems, and repeatedly renewed an observatory whose deep fields, distance-scale measurements, planetary studies, and expanding-universe results reshaped modern astronomy.
Planned Flight Plan
2 sources- April 24, 1990
Hubble Space Telescope launches
Space Shuttle Discovery begins the observatory mission.
- Deployment and checkout
Establish the observing platform
Controllers activate power, communications, pointing, thermal-control, and instrument systems.
- Commissioning
Calibrate the observatory
The science team verifies image quality, detector response, pointing, backgrounds, and archive processing.
- Science operations
Hubble combines a serviceable orbital telescope with more than three decades of ultraviolet-to-infrared astronomy
Five astronaut servicing missions corrected its primary-mirror aberration, replaced instruments and major systems, and repeatedly renewed an observatory whose deep fields, distance-scale measurements, planetary studies, and expanding-universe results reshaped modern astronomy.
Mission Timeline
2 sources- April 24, 1990
Launch
Hubble Space Telescope launches aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.
- Early operations
Observatory checkout
Flight and science teams establish the observing configuration and calibrate the payload.
- Science program
Hubble combines a serviceable orbital telescope with more than three decades of ultraviolet-to-infrared astronomy
Five astronaut servicing missions corrected its primary-mirror aberration, replaced instruments and major systems, and repeatedly renewed an observatory whose deep fields, distance-scale measurements, planetary studies, and expanding-universe results reshaped modern astronomy.
- Recorded outcome
Active
Hubble Space Telescope's calibrated observations remain in the permanent astronomy archive.