Former NASA Astronaut Praises Hubble Space Telescope's 25 Years

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is celebrating 25 years of operations. This tool has spent a quarter of a century sending breathtaking images to Earth, revealing new gems in our cosmos. This spring, Hubble will celebrate at an exhibit at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. And now, former NASA astronaut and current senior advisor of space programs of the museum, Mike Massimino, has given his thoughts about the future of the telescope in an interview with HNGN.

The Hubble is celebrating 25 years. What has the Hubble given to us in a quarter century?

It's given us a look into the universe that we would never have even imagined. If you look at the images of the universe that it's shown, it's taken us beyond places where we can't go. It's also not only answered questions and shown us the beauty of the universe, but it's also come up with questions that we don't have answers to; for example, dark energy and dark matter were both formulated by using Hubble.

There is newer technology and sharper images coming from missions like Dawn-we're going deep space. Is the Hubble becoming obsolete or will it still continue to serve a function?

Because it's above our atmosphere, we have a better view into the universe than any ground-based telescope. Because of the upgrades it's had over the years, it's still the most powerful telescope available. There is a new telescope that's being built called the James Webb Space Telescope that'll be launched in a couple years. That will have more discovery power than the Hubble, but even if that goes successfully, the Hubble will continue to work until it doesn't work anymore. Until it dies or fails, it will keep providing great discoveries.

Massamino has a point. NASA is known to continue using spacecraft for years after its initial mission has been completed-and sometimes even once it's broken. For example, the Kepler mission continues even after it suffered a setback in the form of broken equipment. While Hubble may be celebrating 25 years, it's likely to celebrate many more in the future.

For the full interview with Massamino, visit HNGN.

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