Long before humanity could venture into space, astronomers dreamed of a telescope above Earth’s obscuring atmosphere. In 1962, this dream took a step toward reality when a National Academy of Sciences study group recommended the development of a space telescope.
NASA launched two Orbiting Astronomical Observatories in 1968 and 1972. Both produced a wealth of information, and support for a space telescope grew. But it was the space shuttle, with its capacity to deliver and service large payloads, that finally made the concept feasible.
NASA selected a team of scientists in 1973 to establish the basic design of such a telescope and its instruments. Funding issues cut the proposed mirror diameter and also prompted collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), which joined the project in 1975. When NASA secured funding for the space telescope, the agency decided to name it after Edwin Powell Hubble, whose studies expanded the universe beyond our galaxy.
Building the space telescope was a painstaking process that spanned almost a decade. Contractors actually finished the mirror in 1981 and then completed the optical assembly in 1984. Although the science instruments arrived at NASA, ready to go, in 1983, it took engineers until 1985 to complete assembly of the entire spacecraft. Then, NASA scheduled the launch for 1986 but was forced to delay it after the Challenger accident. Space shuttle Discovery finally carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit on April 24, 1990.
