The Hubble Space Telescope programs dubbed SINS and SAINTS have been 
underway since the launch of HST.  The angular resolution of HST allows us to image 
the many different parts of the supernova as it becomes a remnant, and the spectra, 
especially in the UV, have helped us understand its chemistry and physics.  SN 
1987A was the best-observed supernova and is now becoming the best-observed 
supernova remnant.

Some of the highlights include imaging the circumstellar rings, observing the 
hotspots as they light up, resolving the debris and searching for the stellar remnant, 
and now tracing how the interaction of the blast wave and the circumstellar ring 
illuminate the properties of the explosion itself.  The Stockholm group, especially 
Claes Fransson, have been leaders in this work.

SN 1987A provides some useful lessons that can be applied to more distant 
supernovae where we do not have the benefit of such detailed knowledge.