NASA Celebrates Hubble Space Telescope's 100,000th Orbit

It's hard to believe that NASA first launched the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, making 2008 its 18th year of service. During all its years of service, it has seen numerous shuttle missions to fix and upgrade its systems. According to NASA, Hubble orbits the earth every 97 minutes at about 360 miles above the surface of the earth.

NASA announced today that the Hubble Space Telescope completed its 100,000th orbit. To celebrate its 100,000th orbit, NASA scientists aimed the telescope at a small portion of the Tarantula nebula that is a hotbed of celestial birth and renewal. With the myriad of updates and fixes the Hubble has seen during its 100,000-orbit voyage -- spanning the last 18 years -- it is easy to see the parallel NASA is trying to draw between the telescope and the image of the Tarantula nebula shot today. Read more >>