| Long before mankind was able to send astronauts into space, astronomers conceived the idea of placing a telescope above the obscuring atmosphere of earth. Such an observatory in space was first proposed in 1923 by the German scientist Hermann Oberth, whose work inspired much interest in actual space travel. In the late 1940s through the early 1960s, scientific instruments installed on various rockets, balloons, and satellites produced enough excitement in the scientific community to hint at the possibility of the many discoveries that remained.
In 1962, four years after NASA was established, a study group from the National Academy of Sciences recommended that a large space telescope be developed. This recommendation was to be a long-range goal of the then fledgling space program, and was repeated by similar groups in both 1965, and 1969. The idea was popular, and the work was begun.
In 1968, the first successful NASA satellite for observing the stars was launched, with another following in 1972. These satellites gave scientists a wealth of information and support for a larger, more powerful optical telescope. The approval of the Space Shuttle, which had a capacity for not only man delivery, but also the servicing of large payloads, made this concept more fees able than ever before.
In 1973, NASA selected a team of scientists to establish the basic design of the telescope, along with the various instruments that would be necessary to serve their purpose. In 1977, a group of 60 scientists was formed from 38 institutions to refine the recommendations. That same year, congress authorized the funding for this project, which created more excitement in the scientific community. Now NASA could begin.
Soon after, NASA began assigning responsibility to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama for the design, development, and construction of the space telescope. Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland was then chosen to lead in the development of the ground control center and scientific instruments needed to accompany the telescope. As interest grew, other organizations such as the European Space Agency became involved.
Several major universities also began assisting with the telescope. Work continued through the rest of the 1970s, and into the 1980s, where scientists selected various proposals, helped coordinate research, and generated the observing agenda of the actual telescope. Results of their investigations were also properly archived and distributed.
In 1985, the Space Telescope Operations Center at Goddard was established as the ground control facility for the telescope, where the observing agenda from the Science Institute was translated into computer commands, which were then relayed to the telescope. The data then received at the center was then translated into a format usable by the Science Institute. The control center also monitored the health and safety of the space telescope.
The actual construction process of the telescope spanned almost a decade, and was completed, instruments and all, in 1985. The launch of this telescope was originally scheduled for 1986, but was delayed during the Space Shuttle designed following the Challenger accident. In October of 1989, the telescope was shipped from Lockheed in California to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it was launched aboard the STS-31 mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. Since that time, scientists have continued to develop the Hubble Space Telescope, working hard to make it more accurate, and repairing various flaws that were discovered along the way. Since its launch, the Hubble Telescope has been able to produce images far superior to those of any telescope on the ground. Scientists will continue their work on the space telescope, creating better instruments and improving the overall ability of the Hubble.
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HOW TELECOPES WORK
