Hubble: RIP

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/0....ap/index.html


QUOTE

Hubble casualty of Bush space plan
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 7:54 PM EST (0054 GMT)


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.

END QUOTE


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Joe S.

"Joe S." wrote in message
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QUOTE

Hubble casualty of Bush space plan
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 7:54 PM EST (0054 GMT)



And to top it off, to allocate only $1bn in new money! I read that John
Glenn has commented that a genuine effort to achieve the manned missions
that Bush has layed out would require $1trillion. What a sad story.

Dennis

"Joe S." wrote in message
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QUOTE

Hubble casualty of Bush space plan
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 7:54 PM EST (0054 GMT)



And to top it off, to allocate only $1bn in new money! I read that John
Glenn has commented that a genuine effort to achieve the manned missions
that Bush has layed out would require $1trillion. What a sad story.

Dennis

"Joe S." wrote in message
...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/0....ap/index.html


QUOTE

Hubble casualty of Bush space plan
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 7:54 PM EST (0054 GMT)



And to top it off, to allocate only $1bn in new money! I read that John
Glenn has commented that a genuine effort to achieve the manned missions
that Bush has layed out would require $1trillion. What a sad story.

Dennis

"Joe S." wrote in message
...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/0....ap/index.html


QUOTE

Hubble casualty of Bush space plan
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 7:54 PM EST (0054 GMT)



And to top it off, to allocate only $1bn in new money! I read that John
Glenn has commented that a genuine effort to achieve the manned missions
that Bush has layed out would require $1trillion. What a sad story.

Dennis

"A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talkin' real money ..."
Everett Dirksen


"Dennis Woos" wrote in message
...
"Joe S." wrote in message
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http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/0....ap/index.html


QUOTE

Hubble casualty of Bush space plan
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 7:54 PM EST (0054 GMT)



And to top it off, to allocate only $1bn in new money! I read that John
Glenn has commented that a genuine effort to achieve the manned missions
that Bush has layed out would require $1trillion. What a sad story.

Dennis

"A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talkin' real money ..."
Everett Dirksen


"Dennis Woos" wrote in message
...
"Joe S." wrote in message
...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/0....ap/index.html


QUOTE

Hubble casualty of Bush space plan
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 7:54 PM EST (0054 GMT)



And to top it off, to allocate only $1bn in new money! I read that John
Glenn has commented that a genuine effort to achieve the manned missions
that Bush has layed out would require $1trillion. What a sad story.

Dennis

"A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talkin' real money ..."
Everett Dirksen


"Dennis Woos" wrote in message
...
"Joe S." wrote in message
...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/0....ap/index.html


QUOTE

Hubble casualty of Bush space plan
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 7:54 PM EST (0054 GMT)



And to top it off, to allocate only $1bn in new money! I read that John
Glenn has commented that a genuine effort to achieve the manned missions
that Bush has layed out would require $1trillion. What a sad story.

Dennis

"A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talkin' real money ..."
Everett Dirksen


"Dennis Woos" wrote in message
...
"Joe S." wrote in message
...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/0....ap/index.html


QUOTE

Hubble casualty of Bush space plan
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 7:54 PM EST (0054 GMT)



And to top it off, to allocate only $1bn in new money! I read that John
Glenn has commented that a genuine effort to achieve the manned missions
that Bush has layed out would require $1trillion. What a sad story.

Dennis

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 01:59:29 GMT, "Chuck"
wrote:
"A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talkin' real money ..."
Everett Dirksen

And back then, it was. With inflation over the years, a billion then
(circa 1960) is like maybe eight billion today.

Still a classic quote!

J.