Editing Space telescope (section)

== History ==

In 1946, American theoretical astrophysicist [[Lyman Spitzer]], "father of Hubble" proposed to put a telescope in space.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lyman Spitzer - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/people/lyman-spitzer-making-space-for-hubble/ |website=science.nasa.gov |access-date=7 January 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Hubble Essentials: About Lyman Spitzer, Jr. |publisher = [[Space Telescope Science Institute]] |website = Hubble Site |url = http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/lyman_spitzer.php }}</ref> Spitzer's proposal called for a large telescope that would not be hindered by Earth's atmosphere. After lobbying in the 1960s and 70s for such a system to be built, Spitzer's vision ultimately materialized into the [[Hubble Space Telescope]], which was launched on April 24, 1990, by the [[Space Shuttle Discovery|Space Shuttle ''Discovery'']] (STS-31).<ref>{{cite web |title = Hubble Essentials: Quick Facts |publisher = [[Space Telescope Science Institute]] |website = Hubble Site |url = http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/quick_facts.php }}</ref> This was launched due to many efforts by Nancy Grace Roman, "mother of Hubble", who was the first Chief of Astronomy and first female executive at NASA.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 4, 2024 |title=The mother of hubble |url=https://esahubble.org/about/history/the-mother-of-hubble/}}</ref> She was a program scientist that worked to convince NASA, Congress, and others that Hubble was "very well worth doing".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Nancy Grace Roman (1925-2018) - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/people/nancy-roman/ |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=science.nasa.gov |language=en-US}}</ref>

The first operational space telescopes were the American [[Orbiting Astronomical Observatory]], [[OAO-2]] launched in 1968, and the Soviet [[Orion (space telescope)|Orion 1 ultraviolet telescope]] aboard space station [[Salyut 1]] in 1971.