NASA Urged to Reconsider Shuttle Mission to HST

LMCBoy writes "Space.com reports today that the National Academies of Science has released its recommendation to NASA on the future of the Hubble Space Telescope. They conclude that 'NASA should take no actions that would preclude a space shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.' They also say that none of the safety requirements of the CAIB report preclude a manned servicing mission to HST." Read on for more.

"The NAS recommendation would reverse NASA's previous position that a shuttle repair mission is ruled out for safety reasons. In the wake of strong criticisms of this decision, NASA has also been considering a robotic repair mission. The robotic mission would not risk human lives, but it relies on a number of bleeding-edge technologies that would have to be deployed on a very short timescale. HST's remaining gyroscopes are not expected to last beyond 2007."

Comments

Hubble, the Black Hole

[Mulletproof]

Now I'm going to rain on half of everybodies parade and get modded strait to hell for doing so, but why should they put hubble back in orbit? No offense- and I like interstellar polaroids as much as you do -but hubble cost an ass-ton of money to maintain while showing next to no tangible returns other than said polaroids. Seeing fuzzy blobs that may be planets gets us... Nothing. "Seeing" further into space gets us exactly nowhere. I'm not talking within the solar system here, I'm talking about the crap we'll never be able to confirm in our lifetimes. And as harsh as it sounds, given the choice- hubble or the moon or mars -I'd pull the plug on hubble in a heartbeat too for as much of a bite as it takes out of my current budget.

Practically put, Hubble is a black hole for money with little tangible return on investement. In a budget where every dollar counts, Hubble is the obvious loser, and perhapse rightfully so. This is also an object lesson for all of those crying about how NASA and the current administration can spend their money better. Well here it is. Kinda leaves a sour taste in your mouth, don't it?