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NASA to Reconsider Hubble Decision

Posted by michael on from the measure-twice-cut-once dept.

blamanj writes "It's not dead yet. With cries of opposition coming in from all quarters, NASA has decided to review its earlier decision. Adm. Hal Gehman, chairman of the board that investigated the Columbia shuttle breakup last year, will 'review the (Hubble) matter and offer his unique perspective,' NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said"

3 of 331 comments (clear)

  1. Space now belongs to developing countries? by RobertB-DC · · Score: 5, Informative
    The Yahoo! article points to savethehubble.com, owned by a Brazilian fan of the telescope. He's posted some of the comments he's received, including a rant from a visitor who takes Hubble proponents to task for "not telling the full story" about the safety concerns of launching another shuttle.

    The site owner's response may show where future advances in space will occur.
    Brazil's NGP is about 8% that of US but I guess we could spare some. Nasa has one Brazilian astronaut who, I bet, will go up anytime - as will any american. Last year 21 Brazilian technicians died in an explosion while working on our rocket. The program is still on.
    It looks like it's boiling down to a (deceptively) simple question: will you risk your life for your dreams? More importantly: will your country allow you to take that risk?

    Brazil's answer seems to be, "yes". Meanwhile, here in the US, we're too busy killing ourselves in our SUVs. And don't get me started on 500+ dead and hundreds of $billions spent on the other side of own ball of rock!
    --
    Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
  2. Thank God by purduephotog · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hubble gave us a new perspective on what it means to feel small and insignificant in the universe. Take a look at all the images it has produced- I've downloaded many and had them dumped to AgX paper so I can hang them up on the wall.

    Hell, just click over to the hubble site here http://hubble.nasa.gov/image-gallery/ and you'll see star formation.

    Just don't take away the tool that has cleaned a small bit of grease off the window to the universe and let us see what's out there. We need more photos to help 'instruct' some people down here that already are too big for their own good.

  3. Hubble Hubble Boil and Trouble by kulakovich · · Score: 5, Informative

    A few quick notes on Hubble and NASA:

    If Hubble is going to come home on its own around 2007, that does not mean we have 3 years to make a decision. With every orbit Hubble gets a tiny bit closer to Earth. It isn't going to take a left turn in 3 years and suddenly be on collision course. We need to do something in the next year or so before the orbit decays to the point that a boost won't move it high enough. That and this is mostly about repair and replacement parts as previously stated - which brings me to:

    There was a Hubble plan. NASA has had a plan all along to successfully and responsibly keep Hubble going. Obviously, some unexpected and tragic events have changed that plan.

    However, U.S. folks posting with a gripe about NASA's bad planning with Hubble and the International Space Station need to re-direct their energies and complain to their congresspeople - they are the ones holding the purse strings, and they are the ones who cut the Hab module for the ISS. Each of us share the burden of what "popular opinion" is, and that is the only thing we can do about keeping plans on track.

    Kulakovich