The Hubble Space Telescope-HST

Hubble Space Telescope

I remember as a youth being so excited about my cousins having saved enough money between them all, to acquire a telescope.They had a large family and those three cousins of mine had probably saved for months, to buy that telescope. I remember that summer night going to their house to see the rings of Saturn for the first time.

The oak trees nearby were full of locusts that chirped loudly as boys carried the telescope out like it was the treasure of Solomon, with much pomp and ceremony. Each of us waited impatiently to peer into space for the first time. That was 35 years ago.

From that night, as a young man, looking into space for the first time until now, it has been just as exciting to watch NASA build and launch space telescopes. I have created a Youtube video of some rarely seen deep space photos from Hubble and a few that you may have seen.

The Hubble Telescope was named after Edwin Hubble. An American Astronomer who proposed an expanding universe.

Anyone can apply for the ability to use the telescope regardless of nationality, but it is very competitive.

The telescope has been very beneficial for astronomy but I'm sure is incalculable in fueling the imagination of countless youth, myself once included.

• Launched on April 24th 1990

• Delivered into space by the Space Shuttle Discovery

• Weight is 24,500 lbs

• Located 375 miles above the Earth