On Monday, April 25th 2005, NASA celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope. As part of the celebration, NASA released one of the two largest and sharpest images ever taken from the Hubble. This new view of the Eagle Nebula reveals a tall, dense tower of gas being sculpted by ultraviolet light from a group of massive, hot stars.

During the 15 years Hubble has orbited the Earth, it has taken more than 700,000 photos of the cosmos.

Hubble was launched by the Space Shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990, and opened a new era in astronomy.

However, the telescope, a cooperative effort of NASA and the European Space Agency, would not be operational until three years later.

Astronauts have serviced Hubble four times, and many scientists hoped that a fifth service mission would be funded to enable Hubble to function to 2011, when its infrared replacement, the James Webb Space Telescope, is scheduled to arrive.

NASA has so far decided not to send a shuttle to repair the aging Hubble, citing the 450 million dollars it would cost to do so. But the space agency's new chief, Michael Griffin, has said he would revisit the decision.

Currently, it is believed that Hubble's aging solar cells will provide enough energy to survive to 2007.

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Thank you to all those involved in helping to give us a glimpse of galaxies far far away.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful "telescopic" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC