His dad then brought home a 2-inch (51 mm) refracting telescope for the backyard which the two used to study the night skies, with a particular interest in Mars.

He taught himself to play from books and by listening to the likes of the greats of the early 1960s, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, the Kingston Trio, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul and Mary.

Hubbard graduated in 1966 from Elizabethtown High School as valedictorian of his class and as a National Merit finalist, which together brought a considerable number of scholarship offers.

He chose to accept the Founder's Scholarship from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he double majored in physics and astronomy.

[12] Prior to joining NASA, Hubbard was a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was a founder, VP, and general manager for Canberra Semiconductor (a high-tech start up in the San Francisco Bay Area), and held the position of senior research physicist at SRI International.

Utilization of the Columbia provided scientists and researchers an improved global circulation model, allowing for hurricane prediction 3 days earlier than ever before and presumably saving lives and property.

The September 2005 memorandum of understanding between the two entities outlined plans for cooperation in areas such as large-scale data management, bio-info-nano convergence, and encouragement of the entrepreneurial space industry.

[23] Neil deGrasse Tyson wrote "It's high time somebody revealed the underbelly of why and how we travel to the Red Planet.

[24] Between graduation and moving to California in 1973, Hubbard was a full-time musician in Nashville, playing with the band Pale Fire at various bars and restaurants, including the Exit/In.