Congratulations, NASA!

Photo of God's Eye Helix Nebula courtesy NASA.

Twenty years ago, NASA launched the Hubble telescope into orbit. It rode aboard space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. This space observatory has given us some fabulous images. In the process, the Hubble telescope has changed how we understand our universe.

Astronauts have serviced the Hubble five times. In dramatic space walks, astronauts replaced lenses and upgraded systems. After the last servicing space walk in May 2009, Hubbel is 100 times more powerful than when it was originally launched.

In 20 years of discovery, Hubble has taken images of 30,000 objects in space. Hubble has snapped over 570,000 photos. It has reached over 12 billion light years into our enormous universe. Congratulations, NASA!

For Hubble's top scientific findings, go to http://hubblesite.org/hubble_20/downloads/hubble_topscience_lo-res.pdf

To build a paper model of the Hubble telescope, go to http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hand-held_hubble/pdf/pattern-intermediate.pdf. Directions to build the model are at http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hand-held_hubble/pdf/directions-intermediate.pdf

For more interesting facts about the Hubble telescope, visit http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/hubble_20

You can visit Hubble's award-winning website at http://hubblesite.org/

You can also check out this great book from the library:  Space, Stars, and the Beginning of Time:  What the Hubble Telescope Saw, by Elaine Scott