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The Hubble Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA

In this April 25, 1990, photograph taken by the crew of the STS-31 space shuttle mission, the Hubble Space Telescope is suspended above shuttle Discovery's cargo bay some 332 nautical miles above Earth. Credit: NASA

Composite images of a suspected plume of material erupting two years apart from the same location on Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Plumes were photographed in ultraviolet light by NASA's Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph.

Produced by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, this is the most detailed visible-light image ever taken of a narrow, dusty ring around the nearby star, Fomalhaut, and offers the strongest evidence yet that an unruly and unseen planet may be gravitationally tu

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The Hubble Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASANASA

In this April 25, 1990, photograph taken by the crew of the STS-31 space shuttle mission, the Hubble Space Telescope is suspended above shuttle Discovery's cargo bay some 332 nautical miles above Earth. Credit: NASANASA

These composite images show a suspected plume of material erupting two years apart from the same location on Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The images bolster evidence that the plumes are a real phenomenon, flaring up intermittently in the same region on the satellite. Both plumes, photographed in ultraviolet light by NASA's Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, were seen in silhouette as the moon passed in front of Jupiter.NASA/ESA/W. Sparks (STScI)/USGS Astrogeology Science Center

Produced by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, this is the most detailed visible-light image ever taken of a narrow, dusty ring around the nearby star, Fomalhaut, and offers the strongest evidence yet that an unruly and unseen planet may be gravitationally tugging on the ring.NASA, ESA, P. Kalas and J. Graham (University of California, Berkeley) and M. Clampin (NASA/GSFC)

Mission name: Hubble Space Telecope

Hubble Space Telecope

Hubble has provided observations of everything from distant galaxies to nearby planets in our own Solar System.

Launch Date April 23, 1990
Mission TypeSpace Telescope
TargetThe Universe

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Mission Overview
The hugely successful Hubble telescope has paved the way for numerous advancements in astronomy and astrobiology. Hubble data has been used to study objects both near and far from Earth, and has helped solve mysteries surrounding the existence of dark energy and the age of the Universe.

Relevance to Astrobiology
Hubble’s contribution to astrobiology is immense, and data from the mission has been used in wide-reaching topics relevant to the Astrobiology Program. Hubble observations are bringing us closer to identifying habitable worlds beyond our solar system by providing clues about how planets form from dust and debris around stars. Hubble data has also been used to identify extrasolar planets, adding to the catalog of known worlds in the Universe.

Not all of Hubble’s contributions involve distant targets. Hubble has also been used to observe bodies within the Solar System, including (but not limited to) comets, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the dwarf planet Ceres. Hubble has provided invaluable insight into life’s potential in the Solar System.

NASA Astrobiology Involvement
The Astrobiology Program supports astrobiologists who are working with Hubble data. This includes areas such as the search for extrasolar planets, the study of habitable planet formation in protoplanetary disks, and research concerning the environments of astrobiology-relevant targets like Mars.

The Astrobiologists
NAINASA Ames Research Center Team Co-I’s Uma Gorti and David Hollenbach are investigating basic protoplanetary disk physics and disk dissipation theories using Hubble Telescope data.

Mission news and discoveries

NASA’s Hubble Finds that Aging Brown Dwarfs Grow Lonely (NASA)March 22, 2024

What Are Hubble and Webb Observing Right Now? NASA Tool Has the Answer (NASA)March 07, 2024

30 Years Ago: STS-61, the First Hubble Servicing Mission (NASA)December 05, 2023

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Major mission findings

April 13, 2016Plumes on Europa

NASA’s Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph captured images in ultraviolet light that bolster evidence for plumes on Europa. Composite images show suspected plumes of material erupting two years apart from the same location on the icy moon. The plumes appear to flare up intermittently in the same region, and could provide a means to sample material from the water ocean trapped beneath Europa’s ice.

This illustration depicts the extrasolar planet HD 189733b with its parent star peeking above its top edge.

March 18, 2008Organic Molecule on an Exoplanet

On March 19, 2008, the Hubble Space Telescope made the first detection ever of an organic molecule in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting another star. This breakthrough is an important step in eventually identifying signs of life on a planet outside our Solar System. The molecule found by Hubble is methane, which, under the right circumstances can play a key role in prebiotic chemistry — the chemical reactions considered necessary to form life as we know it.

This image, taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows the newly discovered planet, Fomalhaut b, orbiting its parent star, Fomalhaut.

November 12, 2008Discovering Planets and Beyond

Hubble has made an immense contribution to the discovery of planets orbiting distant stars. For instance, in November of 2008, Hubble took the first visible-light snapshot of a planet orbiting a distant star. The images show the planet, named Fomalhaut b, as a tiny point source of light orbiting the nearby, bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis.

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Mission Facts

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The Hubble Space Telescope stands tall in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Atlantis following its capture and lock-down in Earth orbit. Credit: NASA

On the right is part of the first image taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope's (HST) Wide Field/Planetary Camera. It is shown with a ground-based picture from Las Campanas, Chile, Observatory of the same region of the sky. Credit: NASA, ESA, and STScI

Hubble's dimensionsHubble's dimensions

Hubble is 13.2 meters in length and weighed 11,110 kilograms at launch (~12,247 kg following Service Mission 4). Hubble’s maximum diameter is 4.2 meters.

Hubble Servicing MissionsHubble Servicing Missions

First Image: May 20, 1990: Star Cluster NGC 3532; Servicing Mission 1: December 1993; Servicing Mission 2: February 1997; Servicing Mission 3A: December 1999; Servicing Mission 3B: February 2002; Servicing Mission 4: May 2009

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Artist's Impression of Dragonfly on Titan's surface.

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