Hubble Stops Sending Data, Mission On Hold

mknewman writes to tell us that NASA is no longer receiving data from the Hubble Space Telescope, which could possibly delay the shuttle launch planned just two weeks from now. There is a backup system installed which may be used instead of training the astronauts on the installation of the new component, but that would itself leave no fallback option. "NASA is reviewing whether the mission should be delayed a couple of months so that plans can be made to send up a replacement part for the failed component, said NASA spokesman Michael Curie. It would take time to test and qualify the old replacement part and train the astronauts to install it in the telescope, Curie said. NASA also would have to work out new mission details for the astronauts who have trained for two years to carry out five Hubble repair spacewalks."

Comments

Tagged "oops"

[KGIII]

Let's see if it sticks.

I dearly love NASA but, well, it is going to get harder to convince the public to continue funding if they have an impression of a high failure rate.

Re:Tagged "oops"

[Detritus]

High failure rate?! The HST is a very complex spacecraft. Parts wear out and break. That's why spacecraft are designed with redundant systems. HST was designed to be repaired and upgraded in-orbit, and has already exceeded its design lifetime. In the real world, components fail and increased reliability is not free. Spacecraft engineering is a balancing act. You want to accomplish the mission with minimum cost and a relatively high probability of success. Spacecraft projects that can't manage risks and costs get canceled. There is a limited pool of money and NASA has a responsibility to get the most scientific bang for the buck.

Re:Tagged "oops"

[Volante3192]

Yeah, cause the HST's just been a fountain of failures since it was lanched in 1990.

Seriously, outside of that mirror bit early on, we've serviced the Hubble thrice. And it's up there in one of the most extreme environments imaginable. I can't imagine a piece of kit on Earth surviving 18+ years with only five service calls.

Re:Tagged "oops"

[Brett Buck]

This is just bullshit. All that has happened is a primary unit had failed, after close to 20 years of flight (not to mention the grossly excessive "shelf life" resulting from the Challenger launch delay). They have a backup, that's what it is there for. And this is hardly a high failure rate, we have already gotten more than it was designed for.

        Brett

Re:Tagged "oops"

[Sloppy]

I dearly love NASA but, well, it is going to get harder to convince the public to continue funding if they have an impression of a high failure rate.

Um, it was launched in 1990. Anyone who thinks NASA is incompetent simply because their stuff doesn't last "enough decades" has an unwinable vote anyway. I love NASA a lot less than you, but I sure as hell don't see this as serious anti-NASA propaganda fuel.

Re:Tagged "oops"

[KGIII]

The masses aren't very bright and they're allowed to vote and call their congress critters. Hell, look at all the people who responded somehow managing to conclude that I thought that this was a high failure rate. I worry about NASA in this day and age. With the impending lapse of manned flight and a potential to not have access to the space station I worry that we're falling behind. If, for no other reason than moral, we needed the space program at first. Today we need it just to keep up.

When I was a kid the entire family or the entire school would gather around to watch the launches live. Today you seldom get those launches on your major channels and the only coverage is failure. I don't know how many people who've said stuff like, "We don't need a space program." Granted, these are likely the same people who say stuff like, "Let's bomb Iran next, serves them Arabs right." The problem is that they vote and are allowed to.

I hold a special place in my heart for NASA or space programs in general. You ask a kid what they want to be today and they want to be a rap star. When I was young we all wanted to be astronauts. The only time they see or hear about space is when goes wrong or, worse, blows up and kills people.

Re:Tagged "oops"

[CheshireCatCO]

As has already been noted, NASA's failure rate isn't really that high. If anything, it may be the reverse: NASA has become so risk-adverse (it's argued) that the public has forgotten how *hard* space is and it starts to seem boring. (And like a good idea to raid the NASA budget for other projects because they appear to have more than they need.)

Re:Tagged "oops"

[totally bogus dude]

You ask a kid what they want to be today and they want to be a rap star. ... The only time they see or hear about space is when goes wrong or, worse, blows up and kills people.

To be fair, that's when we normally hear about rap stars, too.

Re:Thwack it...

[mcgrew]

I'm sure they did the equivalent of "thwacking it". But the "thwack" repair method seldom lasts long.

"Thwack it" is for things like the martian hoopties Spirit and Opportunity ("Hoopties" because they're WAY out of warrantee) that you can't send a mechanic to fix.

Or us rednecks with broken cars and even broker wallets; I fixed a heater hose with duct tape on a '74 LeMans, and it still held leak-free when I sold the old junker three years later. You don't fix Rolls Royces or Hubble Telescopes with duct tape!

Better to have it fail now...

[casualsax3]

... than after the repair mission.

Re:Congress Bail out the Hubble *NOW*

[lgw]

I particularly like Warren Buffet's reasoned analysis: "I just sank billions into Goldmen Sacks - we need moar bailout nao!!!"

The panick over motgage-backed securities has largely subsided. The only reaosn there's no market for these securities today is that no one wants to sell them at market value when they expect the government to step in and buy them up at significantly above market value.

My bank isn't in trouble - is yours?