The End of Hubble?

[MrRant]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/nat...uman050207.html

 

NASA budget calls for Hubble's end

Last Updated Mon, 07 Feb 2005 14:39:38 EST

CBC News

 

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. - It's curtains for the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's new budget says.

 

The famous but troubled camera is heading for a "robotic de-orbit mission," the space agency said Monday in its budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

 

That means the Hubble, which hovers about 600 kilometres above the Earth and circles it every 95 minutes, will be guided into the ocean once it has worn out. "The timing and content of the de-orbit mission will be a result of activities conducted in 2005," NASA said.

 

Hubble is "a spacecraft that is dying," NASA comptroller Steve Isakowitz said.

 

But it wasn't the $1 billion US to $2 billion US cost of the repairs needed to keep the telescope sending information to back Earth that led to the decision. Rather, the risks of fixing it are too high, he said.

 

Launched in 1990, Hubble is only a year away from its original lifespan of 15 years.

 

NASA is going to focus on putting astronauts back on the moon, a stepping-stone to Mars and beyond.

 

It plans a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission that will start circling the moon in late 2008. That mission "will facilitate returning humans safely to the moon where testing and preparations for an eventual crewed mission to Mars will be undertaken."

 

U.S. President George W. Bush has set a target of between 2015 and 2020 for the next moon landing.

 

NASA's total fiscal 2006 budget will increase by 2.5 per cent to $16.45 billion US, including $191 million US for the Hubble.

 

Images from the camera enabled astronomers to estimate the universe is 13.7 billion years old, and discover a mysterious force called dark energy, which may oppose gravity and allow the universe to expand.

 

Sad to see it come down as it has provided some awesome pictures of space. A shame that more resources aren't put to getting back to the moon like when Kennedy was president. Oh well, only another 10-15 years.

[Jingus]

Well, it's kinda sad, but hardly unexpected. At least it worked better than Mir.

 

Images from the camera enabled astronomers to estimate the universe is 13.7 billion years old, and discover a mysterious force called dark energy, which may oppose gravity and allow the universe to expand.

It's called dark MATTER ya dumbfuck.

 

I knew a girl named Hubble who was the granddaughter of the guy they named the telescope after.

 

That's all I got.

[Jobber of the Week]

Oh well, only another 25-40 years.

Fixed to reflect the sad truth.

[Modern Man's Hustle]

The good news is, if we go to the moon (again), it'll silence all of those hippies that insist that we never went to begin with.

[Spaceman Spiff]

It's a shame they can't/won't try to grab the Hubble & bring it back to Earth. It deserves better than to come flaming back to Earth.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

The good news is, if we go to the moon (again), it'll silence all of those hippies that insist that we never went to begin with.

I doubt they'd really be convinced if the first six times we landed on the moon and the Apollo 13 disaster wasn't enough enough either.

 

Hell some of those conspiracy asses have accused the government of intentionally killing all the guys with the Apollo I fire.

[starvenger]

Kinda sad to hear this, since the Hubble was very good for astrologists. But fiscally, it does make sense to junk it.