Hubble Space Telescope

NASA/ESA space telescope launched in 1990

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January 2025 Released the southern half photomosaic of the Andromeda Galaxy, mapping the region in near-ultraviolet and visible wavelengths across 195 orbits.
2024 The Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 34th anniversary, continuing its long-standing tradition of releasing a significant astronomical image to mark the occasion.
June 2024 NASA rejected a private servicing mission proposed by Jared Isaacman due to potential risks of damage to the Hubble Space Telescope.
May 2024 JWST identified JADES-GS-z14-0, the most distant known galaxy, seen 290 million years after the Big Bang with a redshift of 14.32. This discovery was part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) and revealed a galaxy more luminous and massive than expected for its early cosmic period.
May 2024 JWST detected the farthest known black hole merger within the galaxy system ZS7, occurring 740 million years after the Big Bang, suggesting a fast growth rate for black holes through mergers in the young Universe.
January 2024 Completed the southern half mapping of the Andromeda Galaxy as part of the PHAST project.
2023 Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 33rd anniversary with a special commemorative image highlighting its ongoing scientific contributions and remarkable imaging capabilities.
December 2023 NASA released Christmas holiday-related images from JWST, including the Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster and other astronomical scenes.
September 2023 Two astrophysicists questioned the accepted Standard Model of Cosmology based on the latest JWST studies.
July 12 2023 NASA celebrated the first year of Webb telescope operations by releasing an image of a small star-forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, located 390 light years away.
June 2023 Detection of organic molecules 12 billion light-years away in the galaxy SPT0418-47 using the Webb telescope was announced.
May 10 2023 Cycle 2 General Observer (GO) program was announced by the Space Telescope Science Institute.
2022 Hubble detected the light of Earendel (WHL0137-LS), the farthest individual star ever observed, which existed within the first billion years after the big bang. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was planned to follow up and confirm the star's nature.
2022 The OPAL project was ongoing, focusing on studying the atmospheric evolution and dynamics of outer planets like Jupiter and Uranus through extended baseline observations.
2022 Hubble Space Telescope launched the ULLYSES project, a three-year research initiative to observe high- and low-mass young stars, aiming to provide insights into star formation and stellar composition.
2022 Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 32nd anniversary with a commemorative image release, continuing its tradition of capturing significant astronomical images to mark its annual milestones.
2022 NASA releases an investigation report finding no direct evidence linking James Webb to discriminatory actions during the Lavender Scare.
September 2022 NASA and SpaceX signed a Space Act Agreement to investigate a potential Crew Dragon mission to service and boost Hubble to a higher orbit, with the possibility of extending its operational lifespan by 20 years.
September 2022 Scientists proposed primordial black holes as an explanation for unexpectedly large and early galaxies observed by Webb.
August 24 2022 A mechanism supporting medium-resolution spectroscopy (MRS) exhibited increased friction during setup for a science observation, specifically involving the grating wheel used to select wavelengths.
August 17 2022 NASA released a large mosaic image of 690 individual frames captured by Webb's NIRCam, showcasing numerous very early galaxies.
July 2022 Gregory L. Robinson retires after completing the telescope's commissioning process and after 33 years at NASA.
July 14 2022 NASA presented infrared images of Jupiter and related areas captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.
July 12 2022 First full-color images and spectroscopic data were officially released, marking the beginning of Webb's general science operations. Images included the Carina Nebula, WASP-96b, Southern Ring Nebula, Stephan's Quintet, and SMACS J0723.3-7327 galaxy cluster.
July 11 2022 The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) completed its commissioning and was officially ready to begin full scientific operations, marking a significant milestone in space exploration and astronomical research.
July 11 2022 U.S. President Joe Biden revealed Webb's First Deep Field image, marking a significant public unveiling of the telescope's capabilities.
July 11 2022 The telescope's first image was released to the public.
June 8 2022 NASA reported the micrometeoroid strike, noting that engineers compensated for the impact using a mirror actuator. Despite the strike, NASA confirmed all telescope observing modes remained ready for scientific use.
May 23 2022 The Webb telescope's C3 mirror segment experienced a significant micrometeoroid strike from a large dust mote-sized particle between May 23-25, which was the fifth and largest strike since launch.
April 2022 NASA announced that Hubble images helped astronomers determine the size of comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli–Bernstein), identifying it as the largest icy comet nucleus ever observed, with an estimated mass of 50 trillion tons.
February 18 2022 Phase 1 alignment was officially completed, with the telescope's mirror segments beginning to work towards unified operation.
February 11 2022 NASA announced the telescope had nearly completed phase 1 of alignment, with all primary mirror segments having located and imaged the target star HD 84406, and brought into approximate alignment.
February 3 2022 NASA announced at 19:28 UTC that NIRCam had detected the telescope's first photons, marking an initial milestone in the telescope's commissioning process.
January 24 2022 The James Webb Space Telescope reached its final destination at the L2 Lagrange point after a precise journey that included three planned course corrections to adjust its speed and direction.
January 12 2022 Mirror alignment began while the James Webb Space Telescope was in transit, with primary mirror segments and secondary mirror moved from their protective launch positions. The process involved 132 actuator motors fine-tuning mirror positions with microscopic accuracy of 10 nanometer increments.
January 8 2022 NASA deployed and locked in place the starboard-side wing of the primary mirror, completing the structural deployment of the observatory.
January 7 2022 NASA deployed and locked in place the port-side wing of the primary mirror.
January 5 2022 Mission control successfully deployed the telescope's secondary mirror, which locked into place with a tolerance of about one and a half millimeters.
2021 Hubble Space Telescope released its 31st anniversary image, marking another year of significant astronomical observations and scientific contributions.
2021 Spacecraft bus integrated with the rest of the space telescope, preparing for its launch to space.
December 2021 Began the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Southern Treasury (PHAST) project to map the southern half of the Andromeda Galaxy.
December 2021 Final launch plan set for December 2021 with budget further adjusted to 9.70 billion USD
December 31 2021 The ground team extended the two telescoping 'mid booms' from the left and right sides of the observatory. The left side deployed in 3 hours and 19 minutes, while the right side took 3 hours and 42 minutes.
December 28 2021 Mission controllers began the multi-day deployment of Webb's critical sunshield.
December 27 2021 60 hours after launch, Webb's rockets fired for nine minutes and 27 seconds to make the second of three mid-course corrections, positioning the telescope to arrive at its L2 destination.
December 25 2021 The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.
December 25 2021 27 minutes and 7 seconds after launch, the telescope was released from the upper stage, beginning a 30-day adjustment to place it in a Lissajous orbit around the L2 Lagrange point.
December 25 2021 At 7:50 p.m. EST, about 12 hours after launch, the telescope's primary rockets began firing for 65 minutes to make the first of three planned mid-course corrections.
December 8 2021 NASA restored full science operations and began developing updates to improve instrument resilience to synchronization message issues.

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