NASA Urged to Reconsider Hubble Decision

I suspect a lot will depend on who is in the Whitehouse after the election.

I'd be amazed if they could not actually find the people willing to crew the
mission, I guess it really depends on the availability of a Shuttle and the
cost commitment involved, not any eye on safety.

Brian

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Brian Gaff....
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
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"Scott M. Kozel" wrote in message
...
|
http://www.sunspot.net/news/health/b...ory?coll=bal-l
ocal-headlines
|
| "NASA urged to reconsider Hubble decision"
| The Associated Press
| January 28, 2004
|
| Maryland's congressional delegation sent a letter to NASA administrator
| Sean O'Keefe urging him to reconsider the space agency's recent decision
| to cancel the final servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope.
|
| "The scientific returns we have received from Hubble's service thus far
| have exceeded our expectations. Given the President's recent
| pronouncement of a vision to rededicate the Nation's commitment to space
| exploration, we believe that NASA should make every possible effort to
| retain this proven window on the universe," reads the letter, which was
| sent Tuesday and made available to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
|
| Earlier this month, NASA announced it won't send the space shuttle in
| 2006 to service the orbiting telescope, a mission needed to enable it to
| keep operating. Without the servicing mission the orbiting telescope is
| expected to stop working several years before its scheduled 2010
| retirement.
|
| Hubble's scientific operations are conducted at the Space Telescope
| Science Institute, located at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The
| telescope is managed and operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center in
| Greenbelt.
|
| After NASA's decision was announced, Mikulski, the ranking minority
| member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA's
| budget, sent a letter to O'Keefe last week, asking him to reconsider the
| decision.
|
| The Baltimore Democrat said she was shocked by the decision given the
| extraordinary contributions to science by the Hubble, which has
| revolutionized the study of astronomy with its striking images of the
| universe. Mikulski is also scheduled to meet with employees of the Space
| Telescope Science Institute on Friday.
|
| The lawmakers noted the next generation space telescope, the James Webb
| Telescope, is not scheduled to be launched until 2010, several years
| after the Hubble is now expected to stop working.
|
| "The gap created between the operation of these two telescopes will rob
| scientists of several years of invaluable data," the letter reads.
|
| The lawmakers also noted about $200 million has already been spent on
| two new instruments that were to be brought to the Hubble by the space
| shuttle, and it may cost more than $300 million for a mission to return
| the Hubble safely to earth.
|
| "In light of these costs, which total approximately a half-billion
| dollars, as well as the several decades of funding already devoted to
| Hubble, a decision to cancel the Hubble program several years shy of its
| goal appears to make little economic sense," the letter reads.
|
| In addition to Mikulski, the letter was signed by Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes
| and Representatives Steny Hoyer, Ben Cardin, Wayne Gilchrest, Roscoe
| Bartlett, Albert Wynn, Elijah Cummings, C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger and
| Chris Van Hollen.
|
| [end of article]
|
| --
| Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites
| Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
| Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways.com


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IMHO a further HST service mission would not take any more risks like the
five previous HST successful missions
(including launch) especially the foam issue is solved.

albert

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
...
I suspect a lot will depend on who is in the Whitehouse after the
election.

I'd be amazed if they could not actually find the people willing to crew
the
mission, I guess it really depends on the availability of a Shuttle and
the
cost commitment involved, not any eye on safety.

The one issue I can see is that of schedule. It isn't just a question of
slotting a shuttle to go up there, but also ensuring that the mission occurs
after NASA has completed development of independant inspection/repair capabilities.

Consider that NASA was very lucky that the shuttle was grounded at a time when
the station was symetrically assembled. Had the truss been asymetrical, it
would have posed interesting issue, especially when you consider the CMGs's
fragile health.

With the requirement to launch daytime, this may present interesting
scheduling requirements between ISS and Hubble launches as well as maintenance schedules.

On the other hand, if on can launch hubble during a long period when you can't
go to ISS due to daytime launch requirement, it would not have much impact on
ISS assembly.

With the requirement to launch daytime, this may present interesting
scheduling requirements between ISS and Hubble launches as well as maintenance schedules.

On the other hand, if on can launch hubble during a long period when you can't
go to ISS due to daytime launch requirement, it would not have much impact on
ISS assembly.

I was under the impression that *only* STS-114 had the daytime launch
requirement....from then on out it'll be back to whenever is
necessary.
Hubble repair flights have all launched and landed at night, but I'm
sure that's more of a coincidence...or is it??
John

(John) wrote in
om:

I was under the impression that *only* STS-114 had the daytime launch
requirement....from then on out it'll be back to whenever is
necessary.

The daytime launch requirement will remain in place until NASA is confident
that it can get adequate ascent photography at night.

Hubble repair flights have all launched and landed at night, but I'm
sure that's more of a coincidence...or is it??

Ground-up rendezvous launch windows shift predictably around the clock due
to the Earth's equatorial bulge. The shift is a function of the altitude
and inclination of the target vehicle's orbit: ~24 minutes per day for ISS,
~30 for HST. So, whether a given launch occurs during day or night depends
totally on the launch date.


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The daytime launch requirement will remain in place until NASA is confident
that it can get adequate ascent photography at night.

Sounds to me like "never a night-time launch again", then - it seems extremely
difficult to obtain images with sufficient contrast without ambient lighting.

Jan

Jan C. Vorbrüggen wrote in
:

The daytime launch requirement will remain in place until NASA is
confident that it can get adequate ascent photography at night.

Sounds to me like "never a night-time launch again", then - it seems
extremely difficult to obtain images with sufficient contrast without
ambient lighting.

Difficult, but not impossible with aerial photography. The SRBs provide
more than enough light to illuminate the stack; the big problem is that
ground-based cameras have to look up through the plume. NASA plans to use
WB-57 aircraft to get night photos, but this capability won't be validated
in time for return-to-flight.


--
JRF

Reply-to address spam-proofed - to reply by E-mail,
check "Organization" (I am not assimilated) and
think one step ahead of IBM.

I was under the impression that *only* STS-114 had the daytime launch
requirement....from then on out it'll be back to whenever is
necessary.

No daylight is now mandatory

The BBC has an interesting article about mounting support for Hubble,
including a petition.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/3437309.stm

Save the Hubble' campaign soars

By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor

A petition website calling for the Hubble Space Telescope to be saved is
attracting a growing number of hits.

http://www.SaveTheHubble.com was established by University of Brasilia
lecturer Fernando Ribeiro following the US space agency's decision to abandon
the scope.

"I hope it will become a forum about Hubble's prospects and a launch pad (so
to speak) for a campaign to save it."

Left alone, Hubble, called the most important scientific instrument ever,
could only survive another three years.

Safety concerns

Astronomers were stunned when Nasa's chief, Sean O'Keefe, decided on 16
January to cancel the fifth, and final, visit of the space shuttle to service
the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

A service call is essential to ensure Hubble's smooth operation until the end
of the decade.

The telescope has only three working gyroscopes, down from its compliment of
six, and cannot afford to lose any more.

" Let the voters say: "We don't want to go to the moon! We want to go to
infinity and beyond!" "
Fernando Ribeiro

O'Keefe decided that in the wake of the Columbia disaster it was unwise to
send astronauts on a shuttle mission that could not reach the safety of the
International Space Station in the event of a problem.

Dismayed astronomers understood O'Keefe's logic, but many pointed out that
there would now be a gap of several years between the demise of Hubble and its
replacement reaching orbit.

They also wondered if there was any way to save the telescope.

Noise from Brazil

In Brazil, Fernando Ribeiro also wondered if Hubble could be saved.

"The HST is such an important, complex, fascinating and cost/benefit effective
instrument that it is hard to imagine someone could ever suggest it should be
dumped into the ocean, let alone Nasa itself," he told BBC News Online.

"I am fan of science and of space. I was standing in front of a huge black and
white TV set when Neil Armstrong took the small step (or the giant leap if you
prefer) on the Moon. I was seven and never forgot the thrill of the moment."

Mr Ribeiro first heard about Hubble's demise from the internet.

"I sat in front of the monitor and stared at it for several minutes
recollecting all the facts I knew about Hubble. Its planning, building, the
flawed mirror, the device to fix it, the book I had: Gems of the Hubble. I
thought about the loss it meant to the whole human
race."

So www.SaveTheHubble.com was born.

"I imagined that it could be a good idea to build up a site where people could
voice their feelings and ideas about the whole story. My role would be to put
together as many references as I could about the struggle to save the
telescope."

"There has been an exponential growth of the public outcry in favour of the
instrument, and it is just the beginning! Since the matter is obviously
political, public pressure will certainly play a big role, especially in an
election year."

The petition will be sent to Nasa and US politicians.

"Let the voters say: 'We don't want to go to the moon! We want to go to
infinity and beyond!'," said Mr Ribeiro.

So just slip one extra Shuttle mission in with the rest - the Hubble's good
science, and more importantly for NASA, good PR.






"John Doe" wrote in message
...
The BBC has an interesting article about mounting support for Hubble,
including a petition.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/3437309.stm

Save the Hubble' campaign soars

By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor

A petition website calling for the Hubble Space Telescope to be saved is
attracting a growing number of hits.

http://www.SaveTheHubble.com was established by University of Brasilia
lecturer Fernando Ribeiro following the US space agency's decision to
abandon
the scope.

"I hope it will become a forum about Hubble's prospects and a launch pad
(so
to speak) for a campaign to save it."

Left alone, Hubble, called the most important scientific instrument ever,
could only survive another three years.

Safety concerns

Astronomers were stunned when Nasa's chief, Sean O'Keefe, decided on 16
January to cancel the fifth, and final, visit of the space shuttle to
service
the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

A service call is essential to ensure Hubble's smooth operation until the
end
of the decade.

The telescope has only three working gyroscopes, down from its compliment
of
six, and cannot afford to lose any more.

" Let the voters say: "We don't want to go to the moon! We want to go to
infinity and beyond!" "
Fernando Ribeiro

O'Keefe decided that in the wake of the Columbia disaster it was unwise to
send astronauts on a shuttle mission that could not reach the safety of
the
International Space Station in the event of a problem.

Dismayed astronomers understood O'Keefe's logic, but many pointed out that
there would now be a gap of several years between the demise of Hubble and
its
replacement reaching orbit.

They also wondered if there was any way to save the telescope.

Noise from Brazil

In Brazil, Fernando Ribeiro also wondered if Hubble could be saved.

"The HST is such an important, complex, fascinating and cost/benefit
effective
instrument that it is hard to imagine someone could ever suggest it should
be
dumped into the ocean, let alone Nasa itself," he told BBC News Online.

"I am fan of science and of space. I was standing in front of a huge black
and
white TV set when Neil Armstrong took the small step (or the giant leap if
you
prefer) on the Moon. I was seven and never forgot the thrill of the
moment."

Mr Ribeiro first heard about Hubble's demise from the internet.

"I sat in front of the monitor and stared at it for several minutes
recollecting all the facts I knew about Hubble. Its planning, building,
the
flawed mirror, the device to fix it, the book I had: Gems of the Hubble. I
thought about the loss it meant to the whole human
race."

So www.SaveTheHubble.com was born.

"I imagined that it could be a good idea to build up a site where people
could
voice their feelings and ideas about the whole story. My role would be to
put
together as many references as I could about the struggle to save the
telescope."

"There has been an exponential growth of the public outcry in favour of
the
instrument, and it is just the beginning! Since the matter is obviously
political, public pressure will certainly play a big role, especially in
an
election year."

The petition will be sent to Nasa and US politicians.

"Let the voters say: 'We don't want to go to the moon! We want to go to
infinity and beyond!'," said Mr Ribeiro.