NASA’s Hubble telescope passes one-billion second mark in space

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has officially passed the one-billion second mark since it began operating. The observatory was launched and deployed by the space shuttle Discovery in 1990.

In its over 31 years of operation, Hubble has provided groundbreaking scientific discoveries and iconic images of space. According to NASA, the telescope has made more than 1.5 million observations and more than 19,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers have been published on its discoveries.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Here's an iconic milestone for an iconic mission: @NASAHubble officially passes the one-billion second mark in space! In case you don't have a calculator handy that's 31+ years of changing how we see and understand our universe. Follow all things Hubble: https://t.co/BxBF2AJzZE pic.twitter.com/Mf9e4BtA4H

— NASA 360 (@NASA360) January 6, 2022

"Hubble's first one-billion seconds included five astronaut servicing missions to replace and repair components of the telescope, and more than 1.5 million scientific observations and counting! We can only imagine what discoveries the next one-billion seconds will bring as new telescopes like the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and the future Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope build upon Hubble's discoveries and work together with Hubble to expand our understanding of the universe," NASA said in a post on Wednesday.

The newly-launched James Webb Space Telescope will complement and extend the discoveries of Hubble. Launched on December 25, 2021, Webb is the world's largest and most powerful space science telescope and is 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA expects the two space observatories will work together well into this decade and expand the scientific community's knowledge of the cosmos even further.