Goodbye Hubble?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Hubble Space Telescope will be allowed to degrade and eventually become useless, as NASA changes focus to President Bush's plans to send humans to the moon, Mars and beyond, officials said Friday.

NASA canceled all space shuttle servicing missions to the Hubble, which has revolutionized the study of astronomy with its striking images of the universe.

John Grunsfeld, NASA's chief scientist, said NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe made the decision to cancel the fifth space shuttle service mission to the Hubble when it became clear there was not enough time to conduct it before the shuttle is retired. The servicing mission was considered essential to enable the orbiting telescope to continue to operate.

"This is a sad day," said Grunsfeld, but he said the decision "is the best thing for the space community."

He said the decision was influenced by President Bush's new space initiative, which calls for NASA to start developing the spacecraft and equipment for voyages to the moon and later to Mars. The president's plan also called for the space shuttle to be retired by 2010. Virtually all of the shuttle's remaining flights would be used to complete construction of the International Space Station.

The shuttle has been grounded since the explosion of the Columbia nearly a year ago.

Grunsfeld said Bush "directed us to use this precious resource" (the shuttle) toward completing the International Space Station and fulfilling U.S. obligations to the 15 partner nations.

Without servicing missions, he said, the Hubble should continue operating until 2007 or 2008, "as long as we can." NASA was already planning to replace the Hubble with a new, improved version, called the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2011.

The Hubble has revolutionized astronomy. Using images from the craft, scientists have determined the age of the universe, about 13.7 billion years, and discovered that a mysterious energy, called the dark force, is causing all of the objects in the universe to move apart at an accelerating rate. This force is still poorly understood.

The observatory has ailing gyroscopes which were to be replaced on the servicing mission, which already has been delayed by the Columbia accident. Grunsfeld said the Hubble has three good gyros and one that is not working well. Software was being developed to work with only two gyroscopes, he said, but the telescope will not have the same capabilities.

Grunsfeld said the Hubble control team will attempt to extend the life of the telescope, but the gyros will degrade. He also said that while the batteries on the craft are constantly recharged, they eventually "will run out of juice."

The Hubble will eventually fall out of orbit and crash to Earth, probably in 2011 or 2012. To make that event safe, Grunsfeld said, NASA will design and build a small robot craft that will be launched and guided to the Hubble.

The robot craft would "grab the Hubble and bring it into the atmosphere in a controlled manner," he said, guiding the school-bus-sized craft to harmlessly splash into a remote part of an ocean.

One reason for the cancellation of repairs, Grunsfeld said, was the requirement that a backup space shuttle would have to be primed for launch when a space shuttle was sent to service the Hubble, a requirement set after the Columbia accident. NASA officials decided then that a backup would have to be ready to help any shuttle going anywhere but the International Space Station.

Servicing missions are required to the Hubble every few years to tune up the complex craft and to replace worn-out parts. Four times previously, spacewalking astronauts have installed new parts or upgraded the observatory with new instruments.

The Hubble, the first of NASA's orbiting observatories, was launched in 1990 with the promise that it would see farther out in space than any previous telescope. But scientists quickly learned that its main mirror was, in effect, nearsighted due to a flaw in manufacturing of the basic mirror. Astronauts in 1993 installed optics that sharpened the vision. Later servicing missions replaced broken parts and added improved cameras and other instruments.

Images from the Hubble glimpsed galaxies back to a point just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, thought to be the explosive beginning of the universe. Astronomers have found that galaxies and clusters of galaxies formed much earlier that theorists had expected. This suggests that planets where life was possible could have formed as early as about 12 billion years ago. The solar system, which includes the sun and Earth, is much younger, about 5 billion years old.

Man... how sad :/ And all this money just keeps getting thrown around. Billion here billion there, trillion here trillion there. No wonder the US economy can collapse at any moment hah.

Ah well the truth is they could build observatories on moon, mars, etc.. far more advanced, same goes for lunches, no gravity issues, etc...

But point is.. all those billions of billions of dollars could be spent on local country problems.

I mean hey here's a good one "lets go to mars/moon to search for CLEAN unpolluted water sinceu we f*cked up earth" WHY NOT INSTEAD spend that money REPAIRING the screwed up earth that you screwed up.

The US country on it's own is in deep shit... should worry about itself not other countries ESPECIALLY 'invading' other planets :p

*end rant*

Although I remember them prototyping an even more powerful and biggger space telescope then hubble, a replacment but like.. oh well They said that replacment would have been able to scope onto distant extra solar planets :D

"The US country on it's own is in deep shit... should worry about itself not other countries ESPECIALLY 'invading' other planets :p"

How so?

Are we in any more trouble than any other country in the world? Seems like the world as a whole is in a bit of trouble.

As far as Hubble goes..It had a good run. Sorry to see it go.

The key concept is if there is enough will and money to launch the new Webb telescope.
If yes, then the extra millions of dollars for a shuttle to keep the Hubble active for 3-4 years is inefficient, as much of the research could be done better a few years later by the new scope.
By all means they should use the dollars for other things.

I do recall reading that the Hubbles useful lifespan has already been extended far beyond its initial design anyways.

As for spending money on space at all.....
Its not worth it, except for the huge technological and economic spin offs and benefits it gives to society, the economy and scientific advancement.

If it was not for computer advances in the Apollo missions the very concept of the personal computer would likely not exist.

Hmmmm...

Based on the argument of investment in technology and war - you could argue that the development of the computer, jet engine, improved refining of petroleum (high octane gasoline), radar and GPS justify respective world wars and the cold war too.

Any funds directed to the space programme should be considered again the opportunity cost of the funds. If the cynics are right and this is some grandiose election platform for GWB's re-election then you have to wonder what value the funds would have if there were invested into the education and health sectors instead. Or to reduce the tax burden.

Technological spinoffs are a excellent byproduct but it could be argued that many of these spinoffs were serendipity at best. GPS was never intended to make air, sea and hiking navigation any easier - it could be argued the improvement in computer power was going to happen anyway and the development of ceramics, polymers and resins (for kevlar and carbon) were also being driven from other areas.

There are a lot of arguments to suggest that unmanned exploration has more merit and less danger.

Remember, the proposal by Bush redirects funds that NASA already has towards the moon and Mars. The additional money amount to 5% more then they are currently receiving. Given that most government agencies grow at rates faster then that, they'll not need to cut other programs to fund the project.

On the manned vs. unmanned; its safer and cheaper to send machines, but exploration is part of human nature. Astronauts do not do it for the money or glory. They do it for the exploration. They understand the risks and are willing to take them. While Star Trek is full of corny lines and stories, the “To boldly go where no one has gone before” is a true reflection of explorers.

When it comes to education, the problems being faced is not money most of the time. The problem is administration and parents. Education budgets outpace inflation by two to three times. Money is pouring into the system and results in the schools are not changing. Its not money that’s the obstruction.

When it comes to budget being blown, it’s to much god damn spending! The US government has over two trillion dollars coming in from the tax roles. TWO TRILLION!! And the amount is growing (especially after the tax cuts). Two trillion dollars and the congress/president cannot stay within it. I fully understand the need to run a deficit when times are bad. It’s the fastest way to get things moving again. Most families do the same. They use savings and then borrow against future income to get through the rough times (lost job or health care) until they are back on their feet. The problem with congress is that they’ve never seen a program they didn’t want to pay for. Once its there never leaves. There are lots of reasons why they do this; most of them have to do with getting reelected. I’ll leave the to much spending debate for another thread though.

Hubble was a failure when it was launched into space. The fact they were able to get shuttles to it and repair the damage is an amazing feat. Its operational life has been extended. It’s done its job. Time to let it go and wait for its replacement.













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