Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Rescuing the Hubble

Today brings the scientifically significant news that NASA's chief administrator has reversed a decision by his predecessor and announced that the space shuttle will make a trip, in May 2008, to service the neglected Hubble telescope, before the shuttle is retired by the space agency. Plans for such a mission were scrapped in the wake of the Columbia disaster, in which falling insulating foam from the fuel tank caused a hole in the wing that proved fatal to the crew.

A piece in March 2004 in Ideas by Peter Dizikes reported that many scientists (some of whom lost their jobs) felt that the earlier abandonment of the Hubble, with no similarly powerful telescope to replace it, represented a great loss for astronomy and the related disciplines. Astronomers occupy a strange and vulnerable position in that they are uniquely at the mercy of the government, which can cancel the whole basis for their research at will. Many projects would be rendered impossible without the Hubble, including, as Dizikes noted, the study of "dark energy" and, oh yes, research into the origins and history of the universe. "That's exploration," one scientist told Dizikes. "To me, it's more fun than going to Mars."

What the Hubble service mission will knock from the budget and priority list at NASA is unclear -- I hope it's not a manned Mars mission, as Dizikes suggested was possible -- but I hope that will be revealed in the coming days or weeks.

Posted by Evan Hughes at 04:15 PM

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