Yes, but then adaptive optics were invented making the Hubble obsolete. There are still good reasons to operate you telescope in space, such as the Kepler planetfinder, which stares at one region of space non-stop (something which no single Earth based telescope could do). There are also bandwidths that are completely blocked by the atmosphere, making orbiting telescopes the only way to go; but atmospheric distortions are no longer an issue.
Thanks for the info...could you explain what “adaptive optics” are..briefly..also, what about the threat posed by vulcanism? Are there any other potential sites?