Hubble Space Telescope Celebrating 25 Years of Unveiling the Universe

In article ,
says...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_W...ope_900_px.jpg

I cannot believe this!

We're still using the Hooker 100 inch telescope that saw first light at Mt. Wilson in 1917. This is the telescope Hubble used to discover cosmic expansion. Its still making discoveries today!

Because it's on the ground it's relatively easy to maintain.

Why the hell would we let a $2.5 billion mirror on orbit crash into
anything? It just doesn't make sense.


Because once it breaks, it's no longer useful, it's just space junk.
Because it is not easy to fix, especially without the shuttle.

So, you're comparing apples to oranges.

Jeff
--
"the perennial claim that hypersonic airbreathing propulsion would
magically make space launch cheaper is nonsense -- LOX is much cheaper
than advanced airbreathing engines, and so are the tanks to put it in
and the extra thrust to carry it." - Henry Spencer