On April 24, 1990 , the NASA and ESA Hubble Space Telescope was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in a project that started with special enthusiasm since it had been in the minds of the scientific community since the end of the decade of the 70. It started in a free orbit about 600 kilometers from the earth’s surface. 25 years have passed and, without a doubt, this telescope has become one of the most prolific and important astronomical missions in the history of mankind .
Its name comes from Edwin Hubble, the first astronomer who proved that there were other galaxies apart from ours, the Milky Way, and that, for example, the Universe was expanding. The telescope travels at about 27,000 kilometers per hour , so it takes about 95 minutes to make a complete revolution of the Earth. It is 13.3 meters long, has a diameter of more than 4 meters and weighs just over 10 kilograms.
From his particular point of view, he has become the photographer who has sent us the best panoramic views of the deepest and most distant universe thanks to his sensitivity to light (ultraviolet through infrared) and his data transmission speed: every week he refers to the experts about 140 gigabytes of information .
Despite the fact that in 2005 its batteries were exhausted and it had to be in hibernation for almost four years , after this forced sleep due to the obsolescence of its components and the natural wear and tear of its instruments that had to be repaired and updated, in 2009 it returned to life and to give us new (and sharper) scientific discoveries.
Among its many milestones during these 25 years in which it has made more than a million observations , it should be noted that it has made it easier for us to know more exactly the origin and age of the universe, the existence of the elusive dark matter, with spectacular images such as those of the Pillars of Creation, the Eagle Nebula, the constellation of Orion, the disintegration of an asteroid, the ring system of Uranus …
The current level of detail in the images that Hubble offers has managed to revolutionize stellar physics or current cosmology . Photos of the Carina Nebulae or the Horsehead Nebula have become part of exhibitions and museums around the world.
How long will the Hubble telescope remain active? NASA and ESA have calculated that after the 2009 repair the observatory will remain active between 2019 and 2030 . However, as its orbit degrades, it is possible that in 2024 Hubble will end up entering Earth’s atmosphere and end its days disintegrating. Although the idea of bringing it down to Earth with a robotic mission had been raised, the proposition seems to have been discarded for the time being. Long live Hubble.
