Hubble Space Telescope Passes Science Milestone

摘要

The Hubble Space Telescope has crossed a major milestone, accumulating 10,000 science papers based on observations from its instruments. After 21 years of taking stunning pictures of the heavens, Hubble has established itself as one of the most prolific astronomical endeavors in history, NASA announced. Though the observatory is getting long in the tooth, it is actually in the best shape of its life, scientists say, because it has been repeatedly upgraded by astronaut servicing missions that outfitted it with new and improved instruments along the way. The fifth and last space shuttle servicing mission was in May 2009.