Hubble Space Telescope: Exploring The Cosmos And Making Life Better On Earth

Hubble image of the Carina Nebula circa 2010: Towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The image captures the top of a three-light-year-tall yellow and orange pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. Credit: NASA

Hubble Space Telescope: Exploring the Cosmos and Making Life Better on Earth

In the 35 years since its launch aboard space shuttle Discovery, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided stunning views of galaxies millions of light years away. But the leaps in technology needed for its look into space has also provided benefits on the ground. Here are some of the technologies developed for Hubble that have improved life on Earth.

Facing away from us, a doctor wearing a white coat looks at a computer monitor showing medical imagery in front of a large scanner with a woman lying on top of it. The room is lit with blue light, while the scanner has a warm yellow light underneath it. Credit: LORAD Corporation

Image Sensors Find Cancer

Charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors have been used in digital photography for decades, but Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph required a far more sensitive CCD. This development resulted in improved image sensors for mammogram machines, helping doctors find and treat breast cancer.

An astronaut moves a large piece of the Hubble Space Telescope into the space shuttle’s cargo bay during the first Hubble servicing mission in 1993. Credit: NASA

Laser Vision Gives Insights

In preparation for a repair mission to fix Hubble’s misshapen mirror, Goddard Space Flight Center required a way to accurately measure replacement parts. This resulted in a tool to detect mirror defects, which has since been used to develop a commercial 3D imaging system and a package detection device now used by all major shipping companies.

A computer monitor shows a hospital schedule with names, dates, and procedures clearly visible. Credit: Allocade Inc.

Optimized Hospital Scheduling

A computer scientist who helped design software for scheduling Hubble’s observations adapted it to assist with scheduling medical procedures. This software helps hospitals optimize constantly changing schedules for medical imaging and keep the high pace of emergency rooms going.

A man in a green shirt and yellow apron holding a tablet looks at paint swatch cards in a store aisle. Credit: Getty Images

Optical Filters Match Wavelengths and Paint Swatches

For Hubble’s main cameras to capture high-quality images of stars and galaxies, each of its filters had to block all but a specific range of wavelengths of light. The filters needed to capture the best data possible but also fit on one optical element. A company contracted to construct these filters used its experience on this project to create filters used in paint-matching devices for hardware stores, with multiple wavelengths evaluated by a single lens.

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An animated artist’s rendition of the space shuttle Atlantis releasing the Hubble Space Telescope away from its robotic manipulator arm in orbit. Credit: NASA

More Posts from Bteddy3276 and Others

bteddy3276

1 month ago

HI GUYS AND HAPPY HUBBLE DAY!!! longest 3 days ever waiting for my goat to turn 35. happy birthday, hubble

i love hubble so much bro i keep learning random facts about hubble that are so cool and im like “oh my god hubble you are so cool!!” and then start crying into my pillow,,, i would very much like to see more him in 20021 💔

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20020 17776 17776 fanart 17776 hubble i watched so many jon bois videos as i made this they basically carried me thru it im convinced that pioneer 9 and juice are his self inserts i love hubble.

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bteddy3276

1 month ago

>run events.exe

=== today === April 24, 2025: Happy Birthday to the Hubble Space Telescope! === a few days ago === April 20, 2025: Happy Birthday to the Jupiter ICy Moons Explorer!!!

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bteddy3276

1 month ago

observing creatures of play

i changed their designs like 3 times while drawing this shit. dont do this. i still dont even know what color palette i want for them

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holy shit holy shit holy shit 20020 17776 they look like higher beings watching the tiny little people down below <-nvm tat was the intention this is so cool i love ur rendering and ur colors and… uh ur like cool in general

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bteddy3276

1 month ago

ESA (juice people) HAS A MASCOT?? AND ITS A SILLY LITTLE CIRCLE GUY ? ?

esa.int

ESA - Space for Kids - Paxi

Hi! My name is Paxi. I'm an explorer from another planet. I've parked my spaceship in orbit and parachuted down to Earth to meet you.

AHHHHHH LOOK AT THEM MAN,, I WOULD LIKE DIE FOR THIS ALIEN??chat why didnt anyone tell me about this guy earlier 💔 ugh they are so cute DRAWING THEM RIGHTnow

ESA (juice People) HAS A MASCOT?? AND ITS A SILLY LITTLE CIRCLE GUY ? ?

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17776 17776 juice is this technically 17776 related um whatever <- ??? idont know

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bteddy3276

2 weeks ago

I FINALLY GOT UP AND DID SOMETHING AND MADE REFERENCE SHEETS(?) FOR THE WEIRD FOOTBALL SPACE PROBES!!!

i think u can barely call it reference sheet but its not like that matters!!

i love 17776 a lot. i hope i never forget about it when i grow up

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17776 17776 juice 17776 nine 17776 ten 17776 fanart btw happy may 16 everyone ehehhee

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bteddy3276

2 weeks ago

oh man💔💔💔

i don't post often but new 17776 coming soon? hi

Bluesky post by Carl Engle-Laird that reads:
Huddle up, folks. I'm going to publish Jon Bois's debut novel, 50007: An American Football Odyssey.
Attached is a screenshot of a deal announcement on Publishers Marketplace. The announcement reads:
50007 By Jon Bois
Imprint: Tor
Sportswriter, documentary filmmaker, and executive producer at Secret Base Jon Bois’s 50007: An American Football Odyssey, about the future history of football, from the perspective of a sentient space probe, to Carl Engle-Laird at Tor, in a good deal, in a pre-empty, by Kate McKean at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.

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bteddy3276

4 weeks ago

HI i bet youve seen these images before…

i just wanted to i just wanted to just wanted to draw the the silly and practice at same time

the 2 photo of the cool football/jupiter duo you probably already have saved r maybe underneath???(just in case)

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17776 mb chat 17776 juice 17776 ten im sorry if there were many other people who already draw same image before me

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bteddy3276

3 weeks ago

It's clear that the sport of football needs to change. And the $64,000 question, my friends, is simple:

"how?" Something is terribly wrong. The writing's on the wall: youth participation in the sport is down, thanks in large part to their parents' concern for their health.

In recent years, the NFL has something is terribly wrong. In response to numerous clinical studies regarding something is terribly wrong, the league has taken action - and something is terribly wrong.

Oh no. Something is terribly wrong.

Do you hear that? Do not be afraid, but something is terribly wrong. I'm afraid that this page is going to disintegrate. Don't worry, nothing will be hurt, although you may be extraordinarily confused. I think I see a calendar. I don't know. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong.

Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is-

SBNation.com

What football will look like in the future

Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong.

Please, read 17776 written by Jon Bois. I don't like football, and yet this was one of the most profound experiences of my life. I promise you, it's so much more than just football.

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AHAAAHAHAAHAHAHAAA! i think something is terribly wrong dont know fs THX FOR SPREADING THE 17776 VIRUS

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bteddy3276

2 weeks ago

In the Petrova line straights up "consuming it" and by "it"...haha lets justr say...the energy of the sun.

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Guys guys gues what i just finishd reading ealrir peopl should read this bok project hail mary id very nnice book

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bteddy3276

1 month ago