Instead of Revamping Hubble, Replace It

Neil Halelamien writes "Astronomy Magazine reports that an international team of astronomers has proposed an alternative to sending a robotic or human repair mission to the ailing Hubble Space Telescope. Their proposal is to build a new Hubble Origins Probe, reusing the Hubble design but using lighter and more cost-effective technologies. The probe would include instruments currently waiting to be installed on Hubble, as well as a Japanese-built imager which 'will allow scientists to map the heavens more than 20 times faster than even a refurbished Hubble Space Telescope could.' It would take an estimated 65 months and under $1 billion to build, less than the estimated cost of a service mission."

Comments

Hubble Double

[Lost Penguin]

Why stop with one Hubble; create a fleet of Hubbles (Imagine a Beowolf cluster of Hubbles )

The orbits could be set so that we can synchonize the photos from two Hubbles at once, from the opposite sides of the planet for a much better view.