The telescope designed for 15 years has survived over 36 orbits

Space · Published 22 October 2026 · Updated 22 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Space is the ultimate mountaintop, free from the blurring haze of our atmosphere. By escaping Earth's weather and light pollution, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided an unobstructed view of the cosmos, turning decades of observation into a masterclass on the universe's expansion and history.

Launched in April 1990 aboard the space shuttle Discovery, Hubble was the first major optical telescope placed in space. By being situated above the atmosphere, the device detects near-infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light types which ground-based studies frequently find unreachable because of air interference. It serves as a primary tool for observing everything from the planets in our solar system to the most distant galaxies.

While originally designed to operate for only 15 years, Hubble has surpassed expectations, completing over 200,000 orbits around Earth. In that time, it has traveled more than 5 billion miles and conducted over 1.7 million observations. It maintains a low-Earth orbit, traveling at approximately 17,000 mph and circling the planet about 15 times every day.

One of Hubble's most significant scientific legacies is measuring the expansion of the universe. Currently, it is focused on a cosmic mystery involving the galaxy cluster MACS J0417. The massive grouping functions as a lens of gravity, enlarging and curving radiation emitted by bodies situated in its rear. Since various routes exist for light around the group, Hubble enables scientists to monitor the recurring sightings of a particular supernova named Athena, which may manifest several times across years or months.

By tracking these lensed appearances, scientists aim to map the mass of the cluster and refine the expansion rate of the universe. These observations represent the latest chapter in a journey that has fundamentally changed our understanding of the cosmos, providing a clear window into the deep past of the universe.

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