20150425 - hubble

Celebrating 25 years of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope

On the 24 April 2015 the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope will celebrate 25 years since its launch.
During the 1970s, NASA and ESA began planning for a space telescope that could transcend the blurring effects of the atmosphere and take clearer images of the Universe than ever before. In 1990 the idea finally became a reality and, despite a flaw in the main mirror which was quite swiftly corrected, Hubble has since far exceeded expectations.
It has delved deeper into the early years of the Universe than was ever thought possible, played a critical part in the discovery that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating and probed the atmospheres of planets around distant stars.
To commemorate this quarter century of success in engineering, science and culture ESA/Hubble will run a series of projects to involve the public in the celebrations. Details of these projects will appear below as the projects commence.
For more information on events, activities and news for the 25th anniversary visit the Hubble 25 website .



 http://www.spacetelescope.org/projects/Hubble25/