How many times has the Hubble Space Telescope (launched aboard a space shuttle) flown to the Moon?

• A. 0
• B. 1
• C. 2
• D. 3

Answer: (A)

Hubble stays in low Earth orbit, not on lunar trajectories. It was launched by the Space Shuttle into near-Earth space in 1990, and all of its servicing missions have been conducted from the Shuttle while Hubble remained in Earth orbit. Reaching the Moon requires a deep-space flight plan and a spacecraft designed for long-distance travel, which isn’t what Hubble was built for. The Moon has only been reached by missions that left Earth’s orbit, like the Apollo program, while the Shuttle never traveled to the Moon. So, the telescope has flown to the Moon zero times.