Re: Hubble Space Telescope

["Pamela L. Gay" <pgay@FAS.HARVARD.EDU>]

Hi Paul,

This probably isn't the forum for a detailed discussion on the options
for fixing/replacing HST. I'd encourage you to read what resources are
out there and decide what you feel is best.

To address your comment (below) about the cost of a shuttle mission,
it currently costs (depending on source of number) $400-$500 million per
launch. The HST servicing mission had a total projected cost of $400
million (see:
http://hst-jwst-transition.hq.nasa.gov/hst-jwst/COST_FS_RevC-52_1.pdf).
In contrast, at the time of launch, HST had cost $1.5 billion (see:
www.hubblesite.org).

Some other things to think about:
       - A new telescope couldn't be build before HST fails (the next
         servicing mission was in part to keep HST going until the Next
Generation "James Webb" Space Telescope is built. The new
         telescope will not have the UV capabilities HST has).
       - The servicing mission is similar to building a new telescope.
         It swaps out HST instruments, upgrades batteries, and replaces
         the gyroscopes.
       - The HST is already safely in orbit.
       - 1 Space Shuttle mission can be used for many different
         purposes, allowing the expense to be shared between projects.

The on line information also points out that NASA will be forced to
develop a technique for delivering an orbital booster to HST to prevent
it from crashing to Earth. Even without a servicing mission, they will
be spending large amounts of money to service HST, but their money will
go strictly to taking it out of service.

Something else to consider - HST churns out vast numbers of press
releases, extensive educational materials, and 100s of journal articles
on a regular basis.

Cheers,
Pamela



Paul Nord wrote:
> Pam,
>
> Isn't the shuttle costing about $2B per mission?
> It would be cheaper to build another telescope.
>
> Paul
>
>
> On Mon, 26 Jan 2004, Pamela L. Gay wrote:
>
>
> > Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 09:28:31 -0500
> > From: Pamela L. Gay <pgay@fas.harvard.edu>
> > To: Forum for Physics Educators <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>,
> >     tap-l@listproc.appstate.edu
> > Subject: Hubble Space Telescope
> >
> > Dear Colleagues,
> >
> > As many of you have probably heard, NASA Director Sean O'Keefe recently
> > announced the cancellation of the next Hubble Space Telescope servicing
> > mission. The reasons are complicated but boil down to two basic things:
> > money and fear of losing another Shuttle. Many throughout the
> > astronomical/general science community and at least one congress woman
> > have mounted a campaign to try and get O'Keefe to reconsider. Details on
> > what is going on and how you can help are at (see the links at the
> > bottom of the story for background info):
> >
> > http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1160_1.asp
> >
> > I would encourage any of you who touch on astronomy in your classes to
> > educate your students in the the benefits of unmanned space missions.
> > HST and its fellow space observatories (Chandra X-Ray, Spitzer IR,
> > Compton Gamma-ray Observatories) are safe missions that do good science.
> > The International Space Station does not have the same track record for
> > research. As Bush tries to push forward with his plans to send men to
> > the Moon and Mars, we need to find ways to protect research funds by
> > reminding the public that NASA does more than put men in space.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Pamela Gay