Will we miss Hubble when it finally breaks?

This question seems to be being asked more of late, particularly as assuming
the jams Web device actually makes it up intact, its life expectancy seems
very short by comparison. Some say new ground based systems with special
adaptive optics will take over, but surely many wavelengths cannot penetrate
even the thinnest of atmospheres, and airborne units are not ideally suited
to stare in one direction for long periods.
Without a Shuttle to fix Hubble can the new generation of heavy lift
vehicles cope with such a beast. I feel it would actually be a great
investment, assuming that there is any hope of upgrading it or replacing it.
some may well say, why reinvent the wheel, we have been there done that, but
the basic guts of the device will probably never be designed better (apart
from the mirror grinding...), so why not replace it. these questions need to
be dealt with now, as time is going by.

I have not mentioned money of course... grin

Brian

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On 6/07/2011 7:02 PM, Brian Gaff wrote:
This question seems to be being asked more of late, particularly as assuming
the jams Web device actually makes it up intact, its life expectancy seems
very short by comparison. Some say new ground based systems with special
adaptive optics will take over, but surely many wavelengths cannot penetrate
even the thinnest of atmospheres, and airborne units are not ideally suited
to stare in one direction for long periods.
Without a Shuttle to fix Hubble can the new generation of heavy lift
vehicles cope with such a beast. I feel it would actually be a great
investment, assuming that there is any hope of upgrading it or replacing it.
some may well say, why reinvent the wheel, we have been there done that, but
the basic guts of the device will probably never be designed better (apart
from the mirror grinding...), so why not replace it. these questions need to
be dealt with now, as time is going by.

I have not mentioned money of course... grin

Brian


There's already plans for a replacement (no, not the Webb telescope) -
it's called ATLAST -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance...pace_Telescope

So, to answer your question; yes, we will miss Hubble - it's been a
magnificent window on the universe. But, bigger and much more powerful
telescopes are on the way and might just be launched before Hubble
closes its eye for the last time.

On Thu, 07 Jul 2011 03:46:11 +1000, Alan Erskine
wrote:

So, to answer your question; yes, we will miss Hubble

Especially without a successor.

- it's been a
magnificent window on the universe. But, bigger and much more powerful
telescopes are on the way and might just be launched before Hubble
closes its eye for the last time.

Nope. The House just killed the Out-of-Control James Webb Space
Telescope.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=34044

Brian

On Jul 6, 4:29*pm, Brian Thorn wrote:

Nope. The House just killed the Out-of-Control James Webb Space
Telescope.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=34044

How much of JWST is already-bent metal, and does any of it have a
chance of being used in alternate projects? NASA has on occasion made
successful projects from spare parts and from orphaned instruments.
Sometimes that has even turned out better than the original project
was expected to.

Not that we should count on that when developing a project, but it has
eased the bitter taste on occasion.

/dps

On Jul 6, 2:02*am, "Brian Gaff" wrote the
question.

NASA has observed that:

"NASA's Hubble Space Telescope crossed another milestone in its space
odyssey of exploration and discovery. On Monday, July 4, the Earth-
orbiting observatory logged its one millionth science observation
during a search for water in an exoplanet's atmosphere 1,000 light-
years away."
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/millionth.html

/dps

On Jul 7, 3:13*am, snidely wrote:
On Jul 6, 2:02*am, "Brian Gaff" wrote the
question.

NASA has observed that:

"NASA's Hubble Space Telescope crossed another milestone in its space
odyssey of exploration and discovery. On Monday, July 4, the Earth-
orbiting observatory logged its one millionth science observation
during a search for water in an exoplanet's atmosphere 1,000 light-
years away."
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/millionth.html

/dps

we will miss hubble a lot.

what will likely happen as soon as the last shuttle is
decomissioned.....

hubble has a crippling failure

JWST is cancelled

theres no money for hubble 2

china will launch the next space telescope.

the us wouldnt just be out of the man launching business but out of
the science telescope business too.......

On 7/07/2011 9:29 AM, Brian Thorn wrote:
On Thu, 07 Jul 2011 03:46:11 +1000, Alan Erskine
wrote:

So, to answer your question; yes, we will miss Hubble

Especially without a successor.

- it's been a
magnificent window on the universe. But, bigger and much more powerful
telescopes are on the way and might just be launched before Hubble
closes its eye for the last time.

Nope. The House just killed the Out-of-Control James Webb Space
Telescope.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=34044

Brian

JWST isn't/wasn't really a successor to Hubble as it did very different
science - no optical images for a start.