A Tribute

Over the course of his life, Edwin P. Hubble was an athlete, a soldier, a legal scholar, a basketball coach, and a teacher. He also was an astronomer - a profession at which he excelled and achieved his greatest fame. While his colleagues argued over the actual size of the universe, Hubble discovered in 1929 that most galaxies were racing away from Earth. He confirmed that the universe was neither static nor small. It was expanding.

Hubble's observation -one of the greatest triumphs of 20th century astronomy - now forms the foundation of the "Big Bang" theory of the creation and evolution of the universe. It only seems fitting that NASA would name its largest, most complex and capable orbiting telescope in his honor and dedicate his namesake to discovering the true age and size of the universe.