The Hubble Telescope: Is its End Near?
NASA launched into space the Hubble Space Telescope around 25 years ago and the world was never the same again with marvelous images it has brought back with such clarity as per the report of The Christian Science Monitor news.
With its silver anniversary in space, the famous telescope has shown the world Westerlund 2 cluster. This is a giant grouping of about 3,000 stars and around 20,000 light years distant from the ship's keel, Carina.
The iconic telescope has been working for 25 years and has encircled the Earth that long and probably it will not last another 25 years. The last repair was done in 1993 when an astronaut fixed a mirror flaw. The Hubble then captured stunning and amazing views of the magnificent cosmos and still working as an important science tool which is available to astronomers. It has helped them obtain scientific Hubble data which have been successfully published and after 25 years, it still works well.
Just like any other tool, it is also bound to bog down and deteriorate especially if repairs are not maintained. It has been five years since it was visited by astronauts for a repair and with the Space Shuttle seeing retirement then maintenance will be impossible.
Encircling the orbit with extreme temperatures, various amounts of sunlight and meeting some meteoroids every now and then will pose some problem on the Hubble Telescope. Despite its age and problems being met on its space journey, it will not be in good shape forever.
To date, there is still good news as its main instruments and equipment are all green and is seen to be working well for at least another good five years. Some bad news is that with gradual decay due to strenuous condition in the atmosphere, it might not reach the five-year mark.