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Old March 1st 05, 09:08 PM
Damon Hill
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(Henry Spencer) wrote in
:


Hubble is dying after having served us so well;
time to put our efforts into a replacement.


Hubble remains repairable with quite minor risk, and should be kept
operating until its replacement is *operational*.


I agree, but it appears the political reality isn't
willing to continue supporting Hubble. The idea of the
robotic servicing mission was certainly lame from the
beginning; it'll take a full-up dedicated Shuttle
mission to do it right, and probably another one five
or so years from now.

That means additional Shuttle missions beyond ISS
assembly/service, and beyond 2010. Is that really going
to happen? (My guess is that Shuttle will fly somewhat
beyond then, barring another loss of vehicle.)

JWST isn't an exact replacement of course, but unless there's
real support for Hubble and replacement(s), we're going to
have to live with some loss of coverage.

It's an imperfect world.

--Damon