2000 hubble telescope images 33 cent pane of 20 postage stamps scott 3388a usps in 2000 the usps issued these 33 cents stamps depicting images taken by the hubble space telescope, launched into space on april 25, 1990. the huge instrument can see the cosmos clearer than land-based telescopes because of its position above earth's distorting atmosphere. it was named for edwin powell hubble, an american astronomer whose studies helped explain the universe.