Hubble Space Telescope data, while the Goddard Space Flight Center controls the spacecraft. Space telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. Hubble was funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and the "Challenger" disaster (1986). When finally launched in 1990, Hubble's main mirror was found to have spherical aberration, compromising the telescope's capabilities. The optics were corrected to their intended quality by a servicing mission in 1993. Hubble is the only telescope designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. After launch by in 1990, five subsequent Space Shuttle missions
Space Shuttle Columbia facility beginning in January 1984, undergoing modifications that removed the Orbiter Flight Test hardware and bringing it up to similar specifications as those of its sister orbiters. At that time the shuttle fleet was expanded to include "Discovery" and "Atlantis". "Columbia" returned to space on January 12, 1986, with the launch of STS-61-C. The mission's crew included Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz, as well as the first sitting member of the House of Representatives to venture into space, Bill Nelson. The next shuttle mission, STS-51-L, was undertaken by "Challenger". It was launched on January 28, 1986, ten days after STS-61-C had landed,