Hubble celebrates 15 years of stellar images [View All]

[Ripley]

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken about 750,000 images in its 15 years in space. Celebrating the launch on April 24, 1990, Hubble officials released two more pretty pictures on Friday.

While Hubble's future is uncertain, its capabilities are unquestioned as the sharp-eyed observatory continues to produce stunning photographs of faraway places.



Among Hubble's greatest achievements is an ongoing set of observations of supernovas that shows the universe is not just expanding, but doing so at an ever-increasing pace. The blockbuster finding means something called dark energy, which scientists know almost nothing about, is working against gravity -- and winning.

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Hubble is a joint project between the European Space Agency and NASA. The observatory may be on its last legs. NASA currently has no plans to service the telescope a fifth time. Meanwhile, with its batteries and gyroscopes wearing out, the telescope will likely stop taking pictures in 2007 or 2008.

Maybe the Europeans or Japanese will mount a mission to save it. **crosses fingers**

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/04/25/hubble.pics/index.html