NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Gets to Stay Up For Five More Years

Hubble won't be resting anytime soon, thanks to this contract extension.

By Jelor Gallego

Published

This new image of the spiral galaxy NGC 3521 from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is not out of focus. Instead, the galaxy itself has a soft, woolly appearance as it a member of a class of galaxies known as flocculent spirals. Like other flocculent galaxies, NGC 3521 lacks the clearly defined, arcing structure to its spiral arms that shows up in galaxies such as Messier 101, which are called grand design spirals. In flocculent spirals, fluffy patches of stars and dust show up here and there throughout their discs. Sometimes the tufts of stars are arranged in a generally spiralling form, as with NGC 3521, but illuminated star-filled regions can also appear as short or discontinuous spiral arms. About 30 percent of galaxies share NGC 3521's patchiness, while approximately 10 percent have their star-forming regions wound into grand design spirals. NGC 3521 is located almost 40 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo (The Lion). The British astronomer William Herschel discovered the object in 1784. Through backyard telescopes, NGC 3521 can have a glowing, rounded appearance, giving rise to its nickname, the Bubble Galaxy. Image: NASA

The Hubble Space Telescope has been giving Earth’s scientists solid data for nearly 26 years now, allowing us to probe the depths of the solar system and the distant Universe. Now, NASA has decided to keep the telescope up for just a bit more.

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Image recently taken by Hubble.

NASA is contractually extending science operations for its Hubble Space Telescope for an additional five years. The agency awarded a sole source contract extension Thursday to the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy for continued Hubble science operations support at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.

The telescope’s most recent servicing mission, in 2009, was expected to be its last. It was to be replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope, slated for a launch in 2018.

However, “after the final space shuttle servicing mission to the telescope in 2009, Hubble is better than ever.” says NASA. “Hubble is expected to continue to provide valuable data into the 2020’s,” the press release adds.