Experts Recommend Keeping Hubble Operational

foolishtook writes " The New York Times is reporting that a panel of experts is recommending NASA to keep the Hubble Space Telescope operating past 2010 when its replacement, the James Webb Space Telescope, is currently slated for launch. NASA had stated that it wanted to bring the Hubble down in 2006 to make room in its budget for the Webb, but astronomers said that it still has a viable future and the launch date for the Webb is likely to be delayed."

Comments

Hubble

[flea69]

Hubble has taken some amazing pictures during its time in space..I for one am hopeful they keep it going, I am in constant need of the desktop wallpapers produced as a result of it.

Re:Hubble

[Dark Lord Seth]

Mmm, yes, point it toward the earth! Sydney to be precise!

There be a cute Aussie girl and I'd like to have a good look at her cleavage... for security reasons. She might be hiding a nuke there!

Re:Hubble

[The Lynxpro]

...but could the Hubble's mirrors be used to effectively work as a giant magnifying glass? Then we could rename it the "Death Star". Paging Dr. Evil... :)

blech

[DiracFeynman]

I hope the images the new telescope (James Webb) acquires won't be as bad as the ones on it's website.

Wait a minute....

[Anonymous Coward]

So they would prefer to spend the money to take it down, then send up another... but if they don't spend money to take it down they can't afford another one?

Man they must burn stacks of $50 bills in a furnace to power the dish on the ground!

two more maned space missions

[yintercept]

I think NASA should stop sending maned missions to space. Yes, its fun watching manes flap in the wind at launch. It gives NASA the fun, excitement and anticipation of the horse races. But manes really don't help the mission at all and cause more friction than they are worth...Not to mention the cost of grooming and shampoo. Unmaned space exploration is a lot more efficient. So I say get out the scissors and cut the manes off.

Thank Hubble for my sig!

[goldspider]

Not EVERYTHING captured by Hubble is pleasant to look at.

Ants

[The Ape With No Name]

I am thinking Ants and a Magnifying Glass here.

Re:Paralax

[jeremyp]

Ariane 5??

It'll probably boost the observatory to an even distribution of small fragments over a 400 mile radius around the launch point on the Earth's surface.

But, it'll be very pretty.

Obligatory Futurama Reference

[soft_guy]

"...so what did we just blow up?"
"The Hubble Telescope"

Gotta love Zapp Branagon. I think we should just him take care of this matter.

Re:JWST to be launched on Ariane V

[ckaminski]

I'm not an expert, but my gut feeling tells me that if a rocket survives its first 30 seconds, its construction is solid.

Not to be pedantic, but tell that to the Challenger astronauts.

Re:Paralax

[snake_dad]

Ariane 5?? It'll probably boost the observatory to an even distribution of small fragments over a 400 mile radius around the launch point on the Earth's surface. But, it'll be very pretty.

Like other space telescope launch vehicles themselves become an even distribution of small fragments all over Texas?

Re:Paralax

[Bombcar]

Like other space telescope launch vehicles themselves become an even distribution of small fragments all over Texas?

But, like good capitalists, ours gets the damn thing up there first..... :)