Hubble
A space telescope with a 2.4-metre mirror, in low Earth orbit since 1990, observing in visible, ultraviolet and near-infrared light above the blurring of the atmosphere. A flaw in its mirror was corrected by astronauts in 1993, and five Shuttle servicing missions replaced its instruments, gyroscopes and arrays in orbit. Its images helped pin down the expansion rate of the Universe and the age of the cosmos.
Key figures
- Builder
- Lockheed, Perkin-Elmer
- Status
- In service
- First flight
- 1990
- Height
- 13.2 m
- Diameter
- 4.2 m
- Mass at launch
- 11.1 t