Hubble Repair Mission At Risk

MollyB writes "According to Wired, the recent collision of satellites may put the Atlantis shuttle mission to repair Hubble in the 'unacceptable risk' status: 'The spectacular collision between two satellites on Feb. 10 could make the shuttle mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope too risky to attempt. Before the collision, space junk problems had already upped the Hubble mission's risk of a "catastrophic impact" beyond NASA's usual limits, Nature's Geoff Brumfiel reported today, and now the problem will be worse. Mark Matney, an orbital debris specialist at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas told the publication that even before the collision, the risk of an impact was 1 in 185, which was "uncomfortably close to unacceptable levels" and the satellite collision "is only going to add on to that."'"

Re:Hypocracy

[slackbheep]

Pine boxes are cheaper, too.

Re:Soak up debris?

[MarkRose]

The foil strips will make the sky even more pretty and sparkly, just like pixie dust! *taps wand*

Re:hmm.

[QuantumG]

we already track space debris down to very small levels. Currently nasa have maps of these pieces, down to the size of a screw if I remember correctly.

Manually.

Yeah, Michael Bay films are not a good indicator of military capabilities either.

LHC

[Xelios]

Perhaps NASA could work with the LHC to produce a small black hole and put it in orbit. It might cause a problem later but who cares? It gets rid of the problem now, and that's all that matters amirite?

Re:hmm.

[theeddie55]

Space Roombas. That image will keep me amused for literally minutes!