Hubble's Greatest Hits

Friends, not too long ago, the Hubble Space Telescope, humanity's far-seeing eye in space, looked like a goner. NASA was saying a servicing mission to extend its life would be too dangerous and too costly. But now, after almost 37 hours of spacewalks by astronauts intent on installing new instruments, repairing old ones, and replacing 19-year-old batteries, it looks like Hubble will live on till at least 2014.

Individual Achievement

Hubble has already had a long, productive life. It's been taking crisp pictures of the universe since 1993, when spacewalking astronauts fixed its flawed main mirror. Ever since, it's let us see farther into space than we ever have before. Through it, we've seen universal beauty, galactic order, and cosmic chaos. Through it, we've seen the light of galaxies more than 13 billion light years away!

And remember, telescopes are time machines, too. Since the light of galaxies more than 13 billion light years away takes more than 13 billion years to reach us, the Hubble Space Telescope has let us see more than 13 billion years back in time. With Hubble, scientists have started to lift the veil on what the universe was like way back when.

Part of a Team

For all it's done, Hubble can't do it all. In fact, it's only one of four orbiting observatories in NASA's Great Observatories Program. Each looks at the universe in a different light. Hubble handles mainly visible light. The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, until it was deorbited in 2000, scanned for gamma rays. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory still scans for x-rays. And the Spitzer Space Telescope sees in infrared.

Eventually, Hubble will meet the same end as the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and a new farther-seeing space marvel, the James Webb Space Telescope, will take its job. But until that day comes, we're appreciating Hubble--with a slideshow look at some of its greatest hits. Just click below to wonder at what we've seen so far through it.