Guess what?The Hubble Space Telescope was named after Edwin
Hubble, an astronomer whose contributions to astronomy include a
classification system for galaxies and the Hubble Constant. The
Hubble Constant defines the relationship between a galaxy's
distance from the Earth and the speed with which the galaxy is
moving away from the Earth. Long before man ventured into space,
astronomers longed for the ability to put a telescope in space
far above Earth's obscuring atmosphere. In 1962, a National
Academy of Sciences committee recommended the development of
just such a telescope. In 1968 and 1972, satellites for
observing the stars were launched. These satellites provided the
basis on which a larger, more powerful space-based telescope
could be built. With the development of the Space Shuttle came
the capability for the delivery and servicing of a space
telescope. In 1973, NASA selected a team of scientists to
determine the basic design of the telescope while Congress
authorized the funding for the telescope in