No mission has ever captured the public’s imagination quite like Hubble. Since its launch on 24 April 1990, the venerable N space telescope has made over 1.5 million observations of planets, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies that not only look stunning, but have furthered our understanding of the universe. From its position in orbit 535 kilometres (332 miles) above our planet, Hubble is free from the atmospheric distortion that plagues ground-based observatories, giving it a clear picture. But this wasn’t always the case. The first images Hubble returned were distorted; astronomers concluded that the telescope’s main mirror had been sent into space flawed. Corrective optics were devised, installed by a Space Shuttle mission in 1993, and from then on its place among the stars was cemented. Even with its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, now operational, Hubble shows no signs of slowing down.
