Repair Costs for Hubble Are Vexing to Scientists

wallstreetprodigy23 writes "Some scientists questioned whether a repair mission for the aging Hubble Space Telescope was worth a projected cost of $1 billion to $2 billion at a hearing of the House Science Committee on Wednesday. Both scientists and legislators praised the orbiting observatory for the many contributions it had made to science since it was launched in 1990. But the telescope needs servicing to continue working... "

Comments

Another Option

[anzha]

The John Hopkins folks proposed a 'Son of Hubble' for that same cost. It would give the same or better scientific data gathering and also be designed to be fixed in an easier fashion, made with more modern tech, etc.

Do what they do with old cars

[panurge]

When the Wall came down, all the old cars in West Germany started to make their way to the East. Why not sell the Hubble to the Chinese or the Indians so they can get it serviced, and do some work with it, while the US gets a new one?

I suspect the Chinese could get it fixed for a lot less than $1 billion. It's called trickle down economics, I think.

Why it is expensive...

[mi]

Because of the concerns for the crew safety.

If we allow for a 0.5% probability of the loss of austronauts, the costs would drop dramatically. For example, they don't want to send the mission without another shuttle on "stand-by", because, if something is wrong, this mission will not be able to repair itself (unlike those, that are sent to ISS).

If lives can be and are lost for a good cause in Afghanistan, Iraq, in fighting domestic crime, and in firefighting, I say, we are overly protective of the space crews.