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Hubble Getting an Upgrade

Posted by timothy on from the all-new-appliances dept.

instinctdesign writes: "The New York Times (free registration of course) is running a story on the planned upgrades to the one of NASA's greatest successes, the Hubble Space Telescope. Here is a quote from the article about the plans: 'Tasks include adding a new primary camera, replacing the telescope's electricity-generating solar arrays, replacing the main power switching controller, replacing a critical pointing device and installing an experimental cooling system in hopes of reviving a dormant instrument.'"

2 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. Some thoughts by The+Mayor · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is good news. Yes, Hubble is indeed one of NASA's greatest successes. Remember when it was first launched, though? Everyone was talking about what a lemon it was. What a turnaround.

    By the way, isn't NASA supposed to launch a successor to the Hubble in 2006? Is that still in the plans? The Hubble is wonderful, but it was built in something like 1981 (after which it sat in storage for a decade, deforming the mirrors). Just think what can be done with technology from the 2000's.

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    --Be human.
  2. Successor to Hubble is NGST by teridon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) is the successor to Hubble. It is scheduled to launch in 2009.

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    I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. -- Thomas Jefferson