Remnants of an exploded star, captured by the Hubble Space Telesope.Credit: NASA, ESA, and F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, and L. Frattare (Viz 3D Team, STScI)
The Hubble Space Telescope is an audacious expression of human curiosity. Since its launch in 1990, it has done much more than just expand humanity’s scientific reach: it has changed how people see themselves in the cosmos.
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Now, Hubble’s future hangs in the balance. A NASA working group is considering whether to extend the observatory’s mission into the 2030s by boosting it into a higher, more stable orbit, or to send a robotic mission to decommission it, plunging the telescope into the ocean.
Each option’s risks, benefits and costs need to be considered. Calls for white papers and pitches to define Hubble’s science priorities for the next decade will conclude in July. Later this year, the working group will share its advice with NASA and the US Congress, which will inform further plans.
I submitted a white paper arguing that Hubble should remain operational for as long as technically feasible. It was an easy case to make, but the future of this iconic telescope is not guaranteed. Scientists and the public must back this remarkable project into its fifth decade.
What’s at stake? Hubble’s unique ability to complement all of NASA’s current and planned scientific missions until 2040. The ultraviolet and optical wavelengths that the telescope captures are essential to understanding how and when galaxies, stars and planets formed.
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Hubble has swept us beyond human imagination. It tore back the curtain on an exciting incandescent Universe — not just for a handful of astronomers, but for everyone. Its images are visceral, both beautiful and terrifying at the same time, and it revealed the raw interplay of matter and energy on scales that words could never fully express.
Its chain of discoveries reinvigorated modern astrophysics. The deepest optical image of the Universe ever taken revealed how galaxies have evolved throughout cosmic history. Measurements of supernovae showed that the Universe’s expansion is accelerating under the influence of the mysterious force known as dark energy. Hubble mapped the cycle of stellar birth and death with unprecedented clarity and was the first telescope to measure the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun.
The mission prioritizes transparency, collaboration and public engagement. Its data have been used by astronomers around the world. Far from obsolete, its instruments are still cutting edge, operational and in demand — proposals outnumber availability by a factor of six-to-one. And it fills a crucial niche in NASA’s suite of flagship observatories.
Hubble’s blue–UV view of the Universe complements that of the James Webb Space Telescope, which captures infrared light with comparable resolution and field of view. Broad coverage of the electromagnetic spectrum is essential for characterizing extrasolar planets, galaxies and black holes. A successor to Hubble, the Habitable Worlds Observatory, won’t be launched before 2040.
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