Hubble marks 200,000 Earth orbits after more than 36 years
Hubble just hit a huge milestone: 200,000 trips around our planet as of September 19, 2026.
Launched way back in 1990 for what was supposed to be a 15-year mission, this space telescope has outlived all expectations and is still sending back incredible images after more than 36 years in orbit.
Hubble tracks supernova Athena MACS J0417
Over its journey, Hubble has traveled over 5 billion miles and captured more than 1.7 million observations that have helped us unlock the universe's secrets.
Right now, it's tracking a supernova called Athena in galaxy cluster MACS J0417 to better understand how fast the universe is expanding.
Even though NASA stopped servicing it in 2009, Hubble is expected to keep working into the next decade before making its final descent sometime in the mid-2030s at the earliest.