In fact, not only is the Russian launch site at Baikonur further north than Cape Canaveral, but spacecraft launched from there are given an extra boost to ensure that if an accident were to happen no debris would fall into China, Russia's neighbour. This inclination matches the latitude of Hubble's launch site - Cape Canaveral, Florida – and was the easiest and most economical orbit to establish. This is because Hubble's orbit is inclined to the equator at 28.5 degrees. Hubble is best seen from areas of the Earth that are between the latitudes of 28.5 degrees north and 28.5 degrees south. With Hubble circling the Earth 15 times a day, you would think it could be in seen in the sky quite often. And each trip around the Earth takes about 96 minutes. Of course, by placing Hubble further away from the Earth, it sits above most of Earth's atmosphere and therefore produces the stunningly sharp images we've come to expect.Ĭurrently, Hubble's almost circular orbit is carried out an altitude of 550 km. Most times, it flew at an altitude of around 320km, with visits to the ISS for instance, taking it up to 400km or so. In fact, this was about the extent of the shuttle's reach. On April 25, 1990, the HST was deployed by the space shuttle Discovery at an altitude of just over 600km. And while it's possible to do this from Australia, it's not quite as easy to spot as the ISS and here's why. I've often watched out for the International Space Station ( ISS) and, with my children, we've tracked its slow and steady path across the sky wondering what the astronauts might be doing up there at that given moment.īut I have to admit, as much as I am a Hubble fan, I've never seen the telescope travel across the sky looking like a bright moving "star". But one way, I'm hoping to mark the telescope's anniversary is to hunt for it in the night sky.
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