Trust me, the price tag will be very affordable - at the beginning of
the program.

Until, of course, the contractor gets a year or two into the program,
and then they tell NASA that the price needs to double, or Hubble will
be lost. Chances are that the robot will never be launched, Hubble
will be lost, but the contractor will walk away with the money. Right
now, these contractors will make any claim to get the contract, and
O'Keefe doesn't care about whether the robot could actually do the
job, he just wants to push this issue 3 or 4 years down the road, so
Hubble is not lost on his watch.





"Uddo Graaf" wrote in message .. .
"Steve Dufour" wrote in message
om...
NASA weighs Hubble rescue options


By Frank Sietzen
United Press International


Washington, DC, Apr. 26 (UPI) -- A review of more than two dozen ideas
for robotic servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope has identified
several promising concepts that may be pursued by NASA before the end
of the year, the space agency's space chief scientist told United
Press International.

"Am I optimistic? Yes. Is it a done deal? No," said Ed Weiler, NASA
associate administrator for space science.

My guess is they won't be so optimistic once they see the price tag....