[Lx]

I thought Earth bound telescopes had problems with their resolution due to the atmosphere and light pollution no matter how big their mirrors are which is why I thought they placed Hubble in space?

[Paradox]

I thought Earth bound telescopes had problems with their resolution due to the atmosphere and light pollution no matter how big their mirrors are which is why I thought they placed Hubble in space?

While there are still many limitations to earth based telescopes, adaptive optics can minimize many of them.

[Jonty30]

They have software that can filter out the effects of the atmosphere.

[LibWhacker]

Atmosphere is still a problem, but there have been a number of developments lately that make ground based telescopes much better than they ever could have been in the old days: adaptive optics, etc.

[BitWielder1]

I thought Earth bound telescopes had problems with their resolution due to the atmosphere

They must be using Adaptive Optics, it can compensate for atmospheric disturbances and produce images almost as good as space-based telescopes.
I don't think that technology was available when Hubble was launched.

[Gay State Conservative]

I thought Earth bound telescopes had problems with their resolution due to the atmosphere and light pollution no matter how big their mirrors are which is why I thought they placed Hubble in space?

I've read that the two best places on earth to place a large telescope are northern Chile (specifically,in the Atacama Desert) and in central Australia.Both places are very dry and nowhere near any kind of civilization.

[crosshairs]

I thought Earth bound telescopes had problems with their resolution due to the atmosphere and light pollution no matter how big their mirrors are which is why I thought they placed Hubble in space?

I bet they can still see Uranus with this one.

[katana]

While light pollution might not be a significant problem in the remote location they plan to build this even the clearest atmosphere will create some diminution of image clarity unless they incorporate some of the defense inspired corrective software that came out of SDI (the Strategic Defense Initiative), aka "Star Wars".

Trying to focus a high power laser beam on a target within Earth's atmosphere is affected by the same conditions as an Earth based telescope viewing stars and planets. But the defense researchers reportedly were able to solve the issue using some kind of corrective software programs. Whether any of that is available for non-classified scientific work is another question.

But based on this artist conception picture of the telescope the mirror will be multifaceted like the eye of a fly and so the surface might be adjustable using small motor actuators to make continuous adaptations for excellent focus. Combine that with the amount of light 39 meters (about 45 yards) of surface would gather and you've got one very powerful instrument.