Explore the Universe @ your library - Quick Hubble Facts

The Hubble Space Telescope is a space-based telescope that has had a large impact on the way we see the universe. 

Hubble completes a spin around Earth every 97 minutes.

Hubble is about 380 miles above Earth, just above our planet’s atmosphere.

Hubble is the size of a school bus and weighs more than 12 tons.

The tubular part of Hubble's body is 14 feet across, and the telescope stands 43 feet tall — about as high as a five-story building.

The telescope’s primary mirror is 94.5 inches (nearly 8 feet!) wide.

Hubble is named after American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble (1889-1953), an important American astronomer who demonstrated the existence of other galaxies besides our own.

Astronauts have visited Hubble five times since it launched into space to do maintenance and repairs. The final servicing mission was Serving Mission 4, or STS-125, in May 2009.

Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), NASA