Celebrate 30 years of exploring the universe with the Hubble Space Telescope

This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. For three decades thousands of astronomers from around the world have exploited the remarkable capabilities of the telescope and its scientific instruments to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. Five Shuttle-based servicing missions kept Hubble in good repair and technologically up-to-date. Even though it has been over ten years since the last servicing mission, the observatory remains highly productive and reasonably healthy. Hubble has established the paradigm for a long-lived "mountain top" observatory in space.

In this talk, David Leckrone, emeritus senior scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, discussed several long threads of discovery that were made possible by Hubble’s extended lifetime and regular modernization. He also recalls some of the moments of high adventure that we experienced during the servicing missions and pay tribute to the unsung heroes who rose to the rescue when things looked dire for the observatory.

The John N. Bahcall Lecture is sponsored by the Space Telescope Science Institute and the Hubble Space Telescope Project/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.