30, 20, and 10 Years Ago in OPN

“Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is now ready to be bundled on the Space Shuttle Discovery. Preparations are being made to deploy it into a circular orbit 610 km above the Earth’s surface, where it will begin its duties as the world’s premier optical astronomical observatory … The launch will be the culmination of a quarter century of planning and preparation, undertaken jointly by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), astronomers and industry in both North America and Europe.”