Hubble's success is owed in large part to its position well above the atmosphere, which eliminates many of the impacts that ground-based viewers face. In fact, due to the existence of chemicals like ozone that filter ultraviolet light in the higher atmosphere, UV astronomy is nearly difficult to accomplish from the ground.

Here are some of its important scientific contributions:

• Contributed to the discovery of the universe's age, which is today estimated to be 13.8 billion years, about three times the age of Earth.
• Nix and Hydra, Pluto's two moons, were discovered.
• Aided in determining the rate of expansion of the universe.
• It was discovered that the centre of practically every massive galaxy is anchored by a black hole.
• A three-dimensional map of dark matter was created.

Despite its age and small size, the Hubble Space Telescope is still one of the greatest telescopes in the world. The 2.4m Hubble mirror is rather normal for current research telescopes, with optics reaching their third decade of usage, as compared to the massive 8-10m telescopes erected on the ground, with much larger ones planned in the future.

It continues to outperform many of the most advanced ground-based telescopes and is still regarded as the pinnacle of optical and ultraviolet astronomy, with demand for its use in research far outstripping the available observing time each year.

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