From the October 2009 issue

Is there a plan to retrieve the Hubble Space Telescope from space to preserve it in the Smithsonian Institution or elsewhere for future generations to appreciate?

Joseph Rusz, Herndon, Virginia
By | Published: October 26, 2009 | Last updated on May 18, 2023

Key Takeaways:

December 2009 Hubble
The Hubble Space Telescope looked clean and spiffy on April 25, 1990, when astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery nudged the space observatory into orbit.
NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Lockheed Corporation

No. NASA’s space shuttle fleet is scheduled to go out of service in 2010. And after that, neither the United States nor any other nation will have a space vehicle capable of returning such a large piece of equipment to Earth.