While its spectacular pictures have generated worldwide acclaim, the telescope’s greatest contribution has been advancing science’s understanding of the origins of the universe.Īmong its most important discoveries, Hubble has pinned down the age of the universe at 13.8 billion years (previous estimates were between 10 billion to 20 billion years) helped determine the rate at which the universe is expanding and showed a black hole at the center of most galaxies, reports Royal Museums Greenwich in London.
The telescope allowed scientists to peer deep into space using visible, ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths, without the distorting impact caused by Earth’s atmosphere. Sullivan.īolden later served as NASA administrator from 2009 to 2017. Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida a day earlier with its precious instrument and a crew of five astronauts: Charles F. ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, APRIL 24, 1800, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS IS BORN, OLDEST FEDERAL CULTURAL INSTITUTION IN US The telescope, NASA adds, “has brought the wonder, beauty and mysteries of the universe to Earth, spinning pictures out of light that have transformed our understanding of the universe.” “Hubble’s launch and deployment in April 1990 marked the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo’s telescope,” NASA writes in an online history of the Hubble program. The shuttle also ferried a new station crewmember, Greg Chamitoff, to replace Garrett Reisman, who returned aboard Discovery after a three-month mission.The Hubble Space Telescope, which has delivered awe-inspiring images of creation and destruction from the deepest reaches of the universe, was placed into orbit on this day in history, April 25, 1990. In addition to installing Kibo, the seven-member Discovery crew delivered a new pump for the station's broken toilet and prepared the $100 billion orbital outpost for a crew of six, rather than the current three, beginning next year. Seven astronauts died when the ship broke apart as it headed toward landing in Florida. Checking shuttles for damage before they return to Earth has become a routine part of missions since NASA lost Columbia in 2003. The 32-ton module was so big, Discovery didn't have room to carry an inspection boom used to scour the spacecraft's body for damage caused during launch, and had to borrow one left aboard the station by the previous shuttle crew in March.
Discovery returns with its cargo hold nearly empty after delivering the main section of Japan's elaborate Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. Just 10 flights, including one in October to the Hubble telescope, remain before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010. EDT (1515 GMT) on a canal-lined landing strip to complete NASA's 123rd shuttle mission. Shuttle commander Mark Kelly steered the spacecraft through pockets of thin clouds as it slowed from a top speed of 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 km per hour) in orbit to under the speed of sound just short of the runway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. space shuttle Discovery landed at its home port on Saturday, wrapping up a mission that gave Japan a permanent toehold in space and setting NASA up for its next mission - a high-profile servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope.
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