Robot Helps NASA Refocus On Hubble

The ailing Hubble telescope keeps refusing to die; jdoire points out this story at the Washington Post which reads in part "Largely because of the Canadian robot named 'Dextre,' NASA has gone in less than a year from virtually writing off the Hubble to embracing a mission that will cost between $1 billion and $1.6 billion and approach in complexity the hardest jobs the agency has ever undertaken." (We last mentioned Dextre back in August.)

Comments

Re:Robots and Hubble: a bad idea?

[GekkePrutser]

The article discusses two alternatives: "Alternative One: Bring back the shuttle" and "Alternative Two: Replace Hubble with spacecraft". Both alternatives would be expensive but with a better chance of high scientific value.

Interesting article! However, I am a bit surprised the article doesn't mention that a replacement to the Hubble is already planned: The James Webb telescope. The only thing that one doesn't have and the Hubble does is a UV viewer (which can't be done on earth either due to the ozone layer). But apart from that it is a replacement for Hubble.