Senators Ask NASA for Hubble Alternative

[Khephra]

WASHINGTON -- Senators asked NASA to seek an outside analysis of the agency's plans to cancel a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, a decision that would eventually lead to the loss of the orbiting observatory.

At a hearing of a Senate subcommittee on NASA and other federal agencies, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., told NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe that she was "shocked and surprised" at his decision in January to abandon the Hubble and said that it is too drastic a step to take without further study.

The telescope has provided scientists a wealth of information on space and its far-flung galaxies. The Hubble was designed to be serviced by the space shuttle. Without a repair mission, the telescope will eventually fall out of orbit.

"Canceling the final servicing mission for Hubble is major surgery. Any prudent person would get a second opinion," Mikulski said. "That kind of decision should not be made by one person alone."

more...........

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-hubble-senate,0,4301663.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[qb]

1. That's easy - just cancel Bush's opportunistic "Man on Mars" fiasco.

[pmbryant]

2. Major tidbit buried in that article

As we know, the NASA chief (O'Keefe) has justified his decision as based on the safety recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

But there is a juicy quote from the chairman of the CAIB in this article:

In a letter to Mikulski, Adm. Harold Gehman Jr., chairman of the CAIB, said that a Hubble repair mission would be "slightly more risky" for the space shuttle than a mission to the space station. He said the major risks of a space shuttle mission are during the launch and the landing. Where the craft goes once it is on orbit, he said, "makes little difference" in the risks.

"I suggest only a deep and rich study of the entire gain/risk equation can answer the question of whether an extension of the life of the wonderful Hubble telescope is worth the risks involved," Gehman said in the letter.

To me, he sounds like he is about as baldly contradicting O'Keefe as decorum allows.

Good news. This decision may be reversed yet.

:shrug:

Peter

[damnraddem]

3. Maybe Dubya will suggest faith healing for Hubble.

Or maybe just launch a program of faith-based astronomy, making the Hubble redundant. ;-)