The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was put into orbit from the Space Shuttle Discovery, mission STS-31, on 24 April 1990. In this picture taken from Discovery, HST is shown still in the grasp of the Shuttle’s robot arm, with the Earth in the background. (SSPL/Getty Images)

Hubble’s Greatest Discoveries Weren’t Planned; They Were Surprises

‘Luck’ is the wrong word. The Universe cooperated, but we gave ourselves the opportunity by being prepared.

It was already 28 years ago that the Hubble Space Telescope was launched and deployed in low-Earth orbit, where it remains today. Outfitted with a 2.4 meter mirror, a slew of instruments designed for viewing stars, planets, nebulae and galaxies, Hubble became humanity’s first civilization-class space telescope. Although it had a number of science goals, its most ambitious was what gave rise to its name: it was the Hubble telescope because it was built to measure the Hubble expansion rate of the Universe. But what Hubble wound up teaching us went far beyond anything it was designed for, and that was due to a combination of three factors. First, Hubble was overbuilt for its mission. Second, Hubble was repaired, upgraded, and serviced. And third, the people administering Hubble had the foresight to green-light some very bold, ambitious proposals. Here’s what we’ve learned.

This photo of the Hubble Space telescope Being Deployed On April 25. 1990, was takem by the IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC) mounted aboard the space shuttle Discovery. (NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Lockheed Corporation)

When Hubble was first deployed and set its eyes on the Universe, it was one of the greatest…