Space telescope Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched on April 24, 1990 by the Space Shuttle "Discovery" (STS-31). Performing astronomy from ground-based observatories on Earth is limited by the filtering and distortion of electromagnetic radiation (scintillation or twinkling) due to the atmosphere. Some terrestrial telescopes can reduce atmospheric effects with adaptive optics. A telescope orbiting Earth outside the atmosphere is subject neither to twinkling nor to light pollution from artificial light sources on Earth. As a result, the angular resolution of space telescopes is often much smaller than a ground-based telescope with a similar aperture. Space-based astronomy is even more important for
Space Shuttle program OV-101) was rolled out on September 17, 1976, and later conducted a successful series of glide-approach and landing tests in 1977 that were the first real validation of the design. All Space Shuttle missions were launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The weather criteria used for launch included, but were not limited to: precipitation, temperatures, cloud cover, lightning forecast, wind, and humidity. The Shuttle was not launched under conditions where it could have been struck by lightning. The first fully functional orbiter was "Columbia" (designated OV-102), built in Palmdale, California. It was delivered to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on