Save Hubble

“There's an online petition to Congress to keep Hubble going rather than letting it die.

Link to petition”

“Now why would we need to keep that piece of space junk alive when we have a war to pay for? ;)”

“Geo - Duck Dodgers needs the money to build a military base on the moon. Stop thinking small.”

“IF you are so inclined --



A HOUSE CALL FOR A HUBBLE HOUSE CALL

The battle over the fate of the Hubble Space Telescope flared up again
this week. On Wednesday seven US congressmen led by Rep. Mark Udall
(D-Colorado) introduced a resolution into the House of Representatives
calling for the appointment of an independent panel of experts to
reconsider NASA's decision to stop servicing the orbiting observatory. The
statement also asks NASA to continue plans and preparations for the next
Hubble servicing mission while the panel's study is ongoing....

Many readers of SKY & TELESCOPE have asked us how amateur astronomers can
help save Hubble, and the answer is the same as it is for professionals:
Write to your representative in the House. The following will get you
started....

http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1200_1.asp



I say can the space station instead.”

“It's a shame that Hubble can't find a home with some universities for a group of them, or something. A lot of work went into Hubble, it would be a shame if it were able to perform, but was canned.”

“And there's no guarantee that the Webb Telescope will be launched on schedule. There could be a gap of 5-years or more.

I wonder about Sean o'Keefe, though (especially after his flat statement in January that any further servicing was cancelled)...

Is he completely ham-handed when it comes to public relations, or was he using reverse psychology to drum up public support for Hubble?”

“Even if several universities banded together to fund the project getting shuttle time would be hard to do.”

“This brings up a very interesting idea. Why does NASA feel hell ebnt on only having the shuttle? I've heard that one of the problems with getting it flying again is logistics with having another "rescue" shuttle on standby incase of emergence. Why not develop an "all purpose" capsul, alla Apollo, that would be able to serve as rescue ship, plus be able to send peeps up to repair Hubble? Seems simple. What's to say that foam doesn't blow a hole in yer rescue shuttle, then you have ALL kind of trouble. I thought that they were going to adopt a "new line" of thinking. Seems like the same old chit. Maybe they need a hike?”

“The shuttle has never been the model of cost savings NASA predicted. Besides, there's so much science that can be done without having human beings there at all. Manned space flight is incredibly more expensive --”

“GLOVES COME OFF IN FIGHT TO SAVE HUBBLE

Both houses of Congress are now battling NASA and the Bush administration over the future of the Hubble Space Telescope. During a Senate hearing on the space agency's proposed 2005 budget Thursday, Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Missouri) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) called for two independent reviews of NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe's January 16th decision to stop servicing the orbiting observatory....

All this activity follows weeks of anticipation while Admiral Harold
Gehman, former chair of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB),
deliberated on whether O'Keefe's cancellation of future Hubble servicing
is justified purely on the grounds of safety, as the NASA administrator
has argued. O'Keefe agreed to solicit a "second opinion" from Gehman in
late January at Mikulski's urging. In a letter to Mikulski dated March 5th
and released to the public yesterday, Gehman averred that all shuttle
flights are dangerous and that a mission to Hubble "may be slightly more
risky" than ones to the International Space Station, where the crew of a
shuttle damaged during launch could seek safe haven. But whereas O'Keefe has maintained that this is reason enough to stop servicing Hubble, Gehman wrote, "I suggest only a deep and rich study of the entire gain/risk
equation can answer the question of whether an extension of the life of
the wonderful Hubble telescope is worth the risks involved...."

http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1209_1.asp”

“LOL...ok..I am sometimes an idiot..I thought someone in SPACE actually lost a glove trying to save the Hubble......sorry Tilt....sometimes I am way too literal.....”

“LOL -- I thought Barbara Mikulski might've punched somebody out!”

“hubble battle in a puddle with a poodle on a bottle....”

“LOL......ok”

“Don't mind him.....he feels the need to mark his areas...”

“The Hubble really opened our eyes to the universe....but alas, sometimes it's better to just let it go....considering the cost and risks involved to repair or bring it home.”

“Actually, someone did lose a glove on one of the Gemini missions, it floated out of the capsule during EVA activity...”

“And NORAD is probably still tracking it... unless it reentered the atmosphere sometime in the last 35 years...”

“A glove is pretty light, but has a large surface area:mass ratio...hmmm...

Somebody go hack NORAD and find out if it's still up there, I have stuff I need to do this morning.”

“I have gloves I can't find in that Black Hole of a gear closet.”

“Dear Fellow Petitioner,

30,000 strong and counting, our petition to pressure NASA to reevaluate
their decision regarding the fate of Hubble is having the desired effect --recent news articles as posted on www.savethehubble.org report that
Congress has required NASA to seek outside validation of their decision
By the National Academy of Sciences.

Best regards,

Michael Paolucci
Slooh.com
Savethehubble.org”

“I always have to pause and reflect on my thinking when I am on the same side as comrade Tilt...

I say fund the ruskis to save Hubble, and then completely revamp and humiliate the awful bureaucratic structure of NASA. Develop new space vehicles to go into low-earth orbit on the cheap. Devote more money to Bush's Save the Galaxy moon/mars plan. Yeah.”

“Dammit, when are we going to start harvesting the moon for all its cheese?”

“Good link, NS... Thanks!


What would Neil Armstrong have said if he'd stepped off the LEM into a lake of cheese-whiz?”

“HUBBLE STUDY GETS UNDER WAY

The US National Academy of Sciences has assembled a stellar
committee of experts to weigh options for extending the life of the
Hubble Space Telescope. The panel's roster reads like a Who's
Who of luminaries in science, engineering, and space technology.
With any luck, the group's deliberations will bring an end to months
of rancorous debate about Hubble's future....

http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1248_1.asp”

“My old boss at COSI who is still president put the hubble in space. It was always cool to talk to her about it. She was also involved in the fix of the hubble. She keeps a box of NASA artifacts in her office like pieces from the shuttle, etc. Very cool stuff.”

“good news”

“Hubble Panel Endorses Servicing Mission
"On July 13th a congressionally mandated panel of the National Research Council recommended that the space agency keep open the option of sending another Space Shuttle crew to service and upgrade the orbiting observatory."

HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK'S SKY

* Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter are all visible to the west at dusk.
* Venus shines at magnitude -4.4 in the east at dawn.
* New Moon on Saturday, July 17th.

For details, see This Week's Sky at a Glance

”

“There are a lot of great pictures in this release.
Nuttall Fire Complex, News, Photos, Movies, Fire Maps, Press Releases from the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory AZ”

“Thanks for posting this, NS. What a Space Cadet!

They say this was an interim report with the final version due late Summer/early Fall. It'll be interesting to see how that's worded.

Those horizon views are nifty, aren't they? I need to renew my subscription to the Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar. It's compact (one page per month), cheap ($10 per year) and loaded with goodies.

It's especially handy for keeping up with the naked eye events... crescent moons, planetary conjunctions, meteor showers and the like.”

“Wow -- I heard the fire on Mt Graham had gotten close to the telescope, I just didn't appreciate HOW close!”

“Here's a page of general astrophotos you might like.”

“
Click”

“Yep. That's what New Moon looks like around here! <GRIN>

Neat site. It would seem that I was born under a Full Moon, LOL --- No surprise there!”

“Priorities, but whose?”

“The TRMM satellite (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) could go for another two years and still have enough propellant for a controlled reentry... for want of ~30 Mil. (lots less than it cost to begin with).

A comparable package won't be launched until 2010.”

“P.S. ---

          FORE!”

“Propellant?

Can't they get Fartex up there for a recharge?”

“that's a thought.........”

“Panel Urges Shuttle Mission to Help Hubble

by Warren E. Leary and Dennis Overbye

Published: December 9, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/09/science/space/09hubble.html?oref=l ogin&th


ASHINGTON, Dec. 8 - Contradicting NASA policy in a long and bitter debate over science and safety, a panel of the National Academy of Sciences said Wednesday that the agency should send astronauts to repair the Hubble Space Telescope rather than rely on a robotic device.

After six months of study conducted at Congress's request, the committee of 21 experts said that a robotic mission would hold too many uncertainties, that it would probably be ready too late to extend the telescope's life and that it might actually damage the instrument.

As for the risk to a space shuttle crew, the panel said, there is a "very small" difference in safety between a mission to the telescope and a typical mission to the International Space Station. More than two dozen journeys to the station are planned over the next decade.

"A shuttle servicing mission is the best option for extending the life of the Hubble telescope," said Dr. Louis J. Lanzerotti, a physics professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and chairman of the panel, assembled by the academy's National Research Council. "It is highly unlikely that the science life of Hubble would be extended with a robotic mission."

There was no immediate response from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which touched off an outcry from astronomers and lawmakers last January when its administrator, Sean O'Keefe, announced that he was canceling a shuttle mission to repair the telescope because it would be too dangerous to the crew. Over the summer, Mr. O'Keefe called for the development of a robot that could perform the repairs, without which the telescope is expected to die in orbit in 2007 or 2008.

While the recommendations in the new report are not binding, they will put pressure on NASA to reconsider its position. Representative Sherwood Boehlert, Republican of New York and chairman of the House Science Committee, noted that the findings were "diametrically opposite to those reached by NASA" and said he would hold hearings early next year on the report and all options for the telescope.

Members of the National Academy's panel briefed Mr. O'Keefe and senior NASA managers on their conclusions on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Robert Mirelson, an agency spokesman, said NASA would need more time to study the report.

"In the meantime, NASA is continuing to examine a variety of methods for extending the Hubble's life," Mr. Mirelson said. The agency will continue to plan for a robotic mission, he said, but will not do anything to preclude a possible shuttle mission.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Lanzerotti, who is also a consultant with Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies, said at a news conference that the telescope was one of the greatest achievements of the space program and that keeping it in orbit should be a priority so it could continue making significant discoveries about the universe.

A robotic mission for saving the telescope presents many technical risks because nothing like it has ever been done, requiring the development and testing of new technology.

Astronauts have serviced the telescope four times since it was launched in 1990, and a shuttle mission could be accomplished sooner and with a higher probability of success than one using untried robotic measures, the 135-page report said.

Astronomers said they were delighted by the experts' findings. Dr. Steven Beckwith, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which supervises the Hubble's research operations, said of the telescope: "They have affirmed that the future of its science is very bright. It's not an old telescope whose time is gone. If anything, it is becoming more valuable."

Dr. John Bahcall, a physicist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., who has been involved with the Hubble program from its beginning, called the new study "a wonderful report" and said of its dismissal of the robotic mission, "Finally, somebody told the king he didn't have any clothes."

Several astronomers said they had long been worried about the effects of a costly robotic mission on other science projects and about the possibility of resulting friction between astronomers and astrophysicists. Estimates for a robotic mission have been as high as $2.6 billion, which would come out of NASA's science budget, perhaps delaying other projects like the study of black holes and dark energy.

Dr. Donald Lamb, a University of Chicago astrophysicist, said, "The tremendous cost of the robotic repair mission would really mean a broad array of other space science missions would be very unlikely to happen."

On Capitol Hill, Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, the Maryland Democrat who helped secure $300 million for NASA's current budget to use for servicing the telescope, said: "NASA has the experience, the technology, and now it has the money. It's time to fix Hubble."

Mr. O'Keefe, the NASA administrator, said last winter that he considered a manned Hubble mission riskier than shuttle flights to the space station. He said a strict interpretation of the findings of the board that investigated the loss of the shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven made him believe that the risk of sending astronauts to the observatory was too high.

But the academy's report notes that NASA is planning 25 to 30 more shuttle missions to the space station and says the risks faced by a crew on a mission to the telescope would be similar to the risk of any single mission to the station.

Roger E. Tetrault, a member of the committee who also served on the Columbia investigation board, said at the news conference that all space travel was risky and that the nation had accepted a certain level of risk with the human program.

"We are saying that going to Hubble as opposed to going to the space station is worth that incremental risk, which is not large," Mr. Tetrault said.


Warren E. Leary reported from Washington for this article, and Dennis Overbye from New York.”

“So, Tilt, are you going up?”

“Thanks, Tilt.”

“That wacko Branson says "Virgin Galactic" will be flying passengers in a larger version of Dick Rutan's Spaceship One to the edge of the exosphere within 5 years...

Anybody wanna lend me 190 grand?”

“5 years???

Woo Hoo! I have another 520 shots at the powerball!!!!”

“Stranger things have happened.... LOL”

“Update on passage of NASA's budget... including $ for the Hubble refurb mission!

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17475”