Fact Sheets

Fact sheets provide a summary of information and statistics in a standard format on a particular Hubble topic of choice. The range from topics that include spacecraft hardware and instruments, to operations, to servicing missions.

Photograph of a group of engineers sitting in front of their computers inside of the "Space Telescope Operations Control Center." This image was taken during Hubble's Servicing Mission 4, which is on the screen in the front of the room.

Observatory and Operations

Download these PDFs to learn more about the Hubble Space Telescope mission and its operations.

Hubble Space Telescope in orbit

Hubble Overview

Hubble is a complex machine. Find out how it works.

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Astronaut Mike Massimino inside one of Hubble's instrument bays (left of center). Instrument Specialists, Michael Good (center) is standing on the Manipulator Foot Restraint, which is connected to the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System/Canadarm Latching End Effector. The Canadarm is white and extends from the upper right corner to the bottom center.

Gyroscopes

Hubble’s precise gyroscopes help point the telescope.

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Image of the VEST (The Vehicle Electrical System Test facility) A Large silver piece of equipment with some of the doors open. Inside those doors are dozens of wires and engineering equipment.

High-Fidelity Simulator

Engineers safely test and troubleshoot new procedures on a Hubble simulator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

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Photograph of a group of engineers sitting in front of their computers inside of the "Space Telescope Operations Control Center." This image was taken during Hubble's Servicing Mission 4, which is on the screen in the front of the room.

Mission Operations

It takes a team of people on Earth to keep a space telescope in action.

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Servicing Mission

Download these PDFs to learn more about the Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions.

Two spacewalking astronauts, one standing attached to the space shuttle's robotic arm, work on the Hubble Space Telescope in the shuttle's cargo bay.

Servicing Missions

Astronauts visited Hubble five times to upgrade and repair the telescope.

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Image showing astronaut holding the Pistol Grip Tool, which looks like an electric screwdriver. The astronaut's face is visible through his visor, he is smiling. He stands next to a large gold box with a bit of the Shuttle visible behind him.

Tools

Innovative new tools helped astronauts tackle Hubble’s servicing missions.

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Instruments

Download these PDFs to learn more about Hubble's instruments.

astronauts install ACS on Hubble

Advanced Camera for Surveys

ACS can survey large areas of the sky at multiple wavelengths, observing objects from our solar system to the distant universe.

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COS

Cosmic Origins Spectrograph

COS studies features imprinted in ultraviolet light to explore how galaxies, stars, and planets formed and evolved.

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Astronaut Joseph Tanner and Hubble

Fine Guidance Sensors

FGSs help point Hubble and can be used to precisely measure distances between objects.

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Hubble observations of M84 by WFPC2 (left) and STIS instruments

Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph

STIS studies features found in various wavelengths of light to examine objects such as black holes, stars and galaxies.

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Astronaut Andrew Feustel with Hubble and WFC3

Wide Field Camera 3

WFC3 spans ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared light to study the cosmos, ranging from distant galaxies to objects within our solar system.

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Information

Media Resources

Need to talk to our communication's team? Need b-roll for the documentary your making? This page helps you find the Hubble information you need.

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Image taken of the 1990 deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble, bright and silver, reflects the Earth below, on either side of Hubble there are two golden solar arrays. At the bottom of the picture you can see the body of the Space Shuttle Discovery as well as the grapple arm letting go of Hubble.
Space Shuttle Discovery’s robotic arm deploys Hubble on April 25, 1990.
NASA

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  • Two astronauts service Hubble, one standing in the space shuttle cargo bay and one attached to a robotic arm, with the Earth in the background in the upper half of the picture.

    Hubble Servicing Missions

    Hubble’s serviceable design and modular components enabled upgrades that took advantage of advancements in technology. Astronauts used this capability to service Hubble five times.

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An oval-shaped spiral galaxy. Its core is a compact, glowing blue spot. A bright bar of light, lined with dark reddish dust, extends horizontally to the edge of the disk. A spiral arm emerges from each end of the bar and follows the edge of the disk, lined with blue and red glowing patches of stars, to the opposite end and a little off the galaxy. A scattering of blue stars are between us and the galaxy.
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Hubble Spies a Cosmic Eye

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NASA Finds ‘Sideways’ Black Hole Using Legacy Data, New Techniques

Lee esta historia en español aquí. NASA researchers have discovered a perplexing case of a black hole that appears to be “tipped over,” rotating in an unexpected direction relative to the galaxy surrounding it. That galaxy, called NGC 5084, has been known for years, but the sideways secret of its central black hole lay hidden in […]

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A close-up of a spiral galaxy, seen face-on. Its center is a bright white point, surrounded by a large yellowish oval with thin lines of dust swirling in it. From the sides of the oval emerge two bright spiral arms which wind through the round disk of the galaxy, filled with shining pink spots where stars are forming and more dark reddish dust. Many stars are visible in the foreground, over and around the galaxy.
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Hubble Images a Grand Spiral

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