No Money For Hubble Service Mission 401
starexplorer writes "SPACE.com is reporting that the White House has eliminated funding for servicing the Hubble Space Telescope from its 2006 budget request. After many options 1, 2 were explored, is this the death knell for Hubble?"
Hubble on eBay (Score:5, Interesting)
Death for Hubble? (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, if we count on the government to fund Hubble, yes.
Perhaps a private party will either donate, or advertise.
This cosmic picture was brought to you by Budwiser.
aaaah Political doublespeak... (Score:4, Interesting)
Now I see this posted... Now admittedly 1 billion is a pretty big price to save Hubble (would probably be more practical just to send up a new one) but is there a newer one in the near Horizon even?
Politics and space mix badly...but then again what else is new...
Space needs more popular support (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm an avid supporter of all things space-related (paying member of Planetary Society, etc) but I find most articles written about the Hubble telescope and space in general pretty boring. Until someone inspires the world with a lofty goal that will push technology or knowledge forward significantly, I think you can expect this type of stagnation or actual devolution.
We ought to sell it before it is salvaged... (Score:5, Interesting)
And, no doubt, if we just leave it up there the Chinese and/or the EU will most certainly claim salvage rights and send up a repair crew.
The Chinese would claim it, if for no other reason than to make clear to the world what is becoming increasingly obvious: the USA lacks the desire (funds?) to maintain its status as a space faring nation and is being replaced by China as the space faring super power.
Money? (Score:2, Interesting)
Sell it to another space program (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Cheaper? (Score:3, Interesting)
Cost of Hubble in 1990 dollars: $1.5B
Cost of Hubble in 2004 dollars: $2.2B
That doesn't include launch costs. It would also probably take ~10 years to plan and build.
Re:Too bad...if only NASA had (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Hubble on eBay (Score:4, Interesting)
NASA calculated that that servicing mission,whether robotic or shuttle, would cost over one billion dollars US. The only "market" that could pick up that kind of tab (or anything close to it) would be the Japanese or European space agencies. Private companies have a hard time just getting a sattelite into orbit. The Russians might have the technology, but they could not realistically fund the mission.
According to This source [miis.edu], the total annual budget for the ESA is 2.7 billion Euros. The Japanese budget according to This source [slashdot.org] was around 1.3 billion US Dollars in 1998. So we are talking about asking them to take on a project that would cost them between 30% to 80% of their total annual space budget.
The probability of success of a robotics mission is IMHO extremely low. You would be hard pressed to build a robot that could service hubble if it was sitting on the ground, much less orbiting in zero G in the cold of space.
Assuming the Japanese and Europeans decided they wanted to pool resources and take on this relatively huge project, then farm it out to the Russians for the launch platform and manned mission (because they are the only ones that have that technology), what would be the end result? Another 5 years or so of science. (remember, we have a new telescope that will be online 5 years or so after Hubble goes dark.) The rewards just don't seem to be worth the effort.
I love the science as much as anyone, but for the most part, the great view of the universe from space isn't going away. It will still be there in 5 years, or 10 years, or however long it takes us to get the next great telescope into space.
Re:"Insightful"? More like "low standards for righ (Score:2, Interesting)
Eliminate other costs (Score:2, Interesting)
Pathetic (Score:3, Interesting)
Wasn't Bush proposing a trip to mars? (Score:3, Interesting)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3381531
Re:Hubble on eBay (Score:5, Interesting)
Except, of course, it currently has no de-orbit capability, hence the plan to go there and add it. But, if you already have to go there...
Re:Too bad...if only NASA had (Score:3, Interesting)
It had about the same effect as the CBS faked memo - it completely destroyed the public's ability to care about a valid issue.
Re:Death for Hubble? (Score:5, Interesting)
Judging by your statement, I am quite sure you do not live in the United States.
As for my credentials, I was born in South Dakota, I've lived in 3 states, I've vistied about 25 of them. I've managed to visit about 5 foreign nations from Europe to Asia. I'd like to think that makes me a pretty good judge of culture shifts.
When I drive from Pennsylvania into Maryland and Washington, D.C., I do not feel as though I am passing some geographical flux of cultures.
Drive from Virginia to North Dakota and listen to the accent of the gas station attendants. Look at the condition of the roads, houses, and the styles of public buildings or churches. The change is amazingly cool.
Similarly, the public schools in Florida work just like those found in Maine
How frequent are the private schools, and if they work the same, but Main's are better, are you saying the people in them are different? That would suggest a local culture.
And if I wind up in court in Missouri, I have the same fundamental rights as I would in California.
Not true. Each state has its own constitution and provides very different fundamental rights. For example, the Massachusents Constitution does not provide an express right to bear arms. The Constitution of South Dakota has always declared such right in detail. Or are you limiting your understanding of "fundamental rights" only to those expressed in the federal consitution?
Right-wing politics is in the roots of America now. It's not just another opinion. It's a religion in itself and it is indeed sweeping the United States, which is not so much a collection of states these days as it one giant creature that is currently trying to decide which side of the fork to walk down.
I live in North Dakota and I don't have cable TV. I haven't noticed much of a change.
Being wrong is frowned upon - but STAYING wrong is a virtue somehow. And it is certainly proud and boastful - that's how it sells, because so many people don't think for themselves.
You're right. I do recall President G.H.W.Bush state that he was signing a law prohibitng flag burning when he knew it to be unconstitutional. I still haven't figured out that one.
I also encounter folks all to often who will say without blinking, "I don't know anything about [Insert issue here], but I'm voting for this guy because he's out to help me."
I think, however, that this just illustrates that people in large groups tend to be stupid... whatever their culture.
Re:Death for Hubble? (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm not confident that the country WILL recover, especially since Dubya seems intent on making the overall government debt as large as he possibly can during his second term.
I'm reminded of a historical program I was watching where some historians being interviewed talked about how just before every large civilization in history that has collapsed, the spending on their military was out of control, and their government's debt had become unsustainable.
Re:believing whatever you want (Score:2, Interesting)
1. What is the benefit of ending a sentence with "period."?
2. What will you allow as evidence? Only that which can be conclusively show by reproduceable experiment? Will you throw out the entire field of philosophy, and the idea that man can learn about his environment by induction? The origin of the universe is not something we can demonstrate by reproduceable experiment.
I'm tired of pretending it's OK to believe everything.
So when the thought police are formed, you'll be first to sign up?
O'Reilly was going on about Intelligent Design yesterday... it's a theory, just like evolution. Right, and just like the theory that the moon is made of cheese... to bad the facts are not on it's side.
Who is O'Reilly? Does she have a website?
Facts are facts, they are not on anyone's side. Facts however must be interpreted by human beings. We do this by looking for similarities between facts that then trying to guess why they happen. To date I've never seen a fact that could not be used to bolster either camp.
Re:Death for Hubble? (Score:2, Interesting)