If walking on the moon was one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind, then NASA's achievement with the Hubble Space Telescope should be seen as one huge grin.

On April 24, 1990, space shuttle Discovery launched the telescope into orbit, and NASA scientists and people around the globe have been amazed ever since.

The telescope has tallied more than 1.2 million observations of more than 38,000 celestial objects since its launch, according to the Associated Press.

It is occasionally pampered with maintenace work, most recently in 2009, the wire service reports.

Hubble's unobstructed view of the universe has provided spectacular images for two and a half decades and is one of the many reasons it is one of NASA's greatest achievements.

What are some of your fondest Hubble memories?