1) The Hubble telescope was launched into space with great fanfare on April 25, 1990. Although there are many powerful telescopes at various locations on Earth, the Hubble telescope was expected to be able to provide considerably better information because it would be able to operate from the vacuum of space, without interference from the Earth’s atmosphere. By launching the Hubble telescope into space, NASA was, in essence, placing an observatory above the Earth’s atmosphere.

2) Unfortunately, the Hubble telescope was initially delayed in relaying its first pictures back from space due to a simple mathematical miscalculation. The Hubble telescope relies upon certain stars to orient its observations, and astronomers working on the pointing instructions for the telescope used charts created in 1950, with adjustments for the movements of the stars in the ensuing period. In making these adjustments, however, astronomers added the amount of the adjustment rather than subtracting it—a simple checkbook-balancing error. The adjustment was a change of only half a degree, but by adding half a degree rather than subtracting it, the telescope’s aim was misdirected by millions of miles.