🎵🎵🎵100+ Hubble Space Telescope Photos Ultra HD (4K) Relax Music ❤️1 Hour Slideshow

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a spaceShow more

telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in

1990, and remains in operation. Although not the first

space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and

most versatile, and is well known as both a vital

research tool and a public relations boon for

astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer

Edwin Hubble, 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.

With a 2.4-meter (7.9 ft) mirror, Hubble's four main

instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and

near infrared spectra. Hubble's orbit outside the

distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take

extremely high-resolution images, with substantially

lower background light than ground-based

telescopes. Hubble has recorded some of the most

detailed visible light images ever, allowing a deep view

into space and time. Many Hubble observations have

led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as

accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe. The HST was built by the United States space agency NASA, with contributions from the European Space Agency. The Space Telescope Science Institute

(STScI) selects Hubble's targets and processes the

resulting data, while the Goddard Space Flight Center

controls the spacecraft.

Space telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. Hubble was funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and the Challenger disaster (1986). When finally launched in 1990, Hubble's main mirror was found to have been ground incorrectly, compromising the telescope's capabilities. The optics were corrected to their intended quality by a servicing

mission in 1993.

Hubble is the only telescope designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. After launch by Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990, four subsequent Space Shuttle missions repaired, upgraded, and replaced systems on the telescope. A fifth mission was canceled on safety grounds following the Columbia disaster (2003).