Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A Way to Save Hubble?

Posted by timothy on from the whose-money-is-the-question dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The maintenance flight to give the Hubble Space Telescope a few more years has been cancelled, even though everyone agrees that HST does good work. But this article offers a way to save the space telescope, and to give those who think the space program should be privatized a way to prove they can do it."

2 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. This *is* a thought... by Pi_0's+don't+shower · · Score: 3, Informative
    wouldnt it be obvious to build another, better Hubble-like telescope and attach it to the ISS
    I don't know if this idea has been considered, but what is commonly referred to as the "successor" to Hubble (I'll explain below why it's not), the James Webb Space Telescope, is built so that it won't need servicing missions. Hubble was built to be upgraded, as it's great seeing power comes from not having to look through an atmosphere and from having great cameras. (The cameras are what gets upgraded and replaced.) It is designed to view objects in the Ultraviolet and Blue light range. James Webb only "sees" in the Red and Infrared, and therefore isn't a replacement, it's just a different telescope. The only thing I wonder about, that may make this a bad idea, is that I believe the ISS may not be in a high enough orbit to house a telescope -- someone may want to check this.
  2. Re:Typical and misguided by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    The solar cels charge the batteries in much the same way as the alternator in an automobile charges the battery.