One of the saddest things I noted in the news today was the announcement that the Hubble is doomed due to imminent budget cuts. The Hubble gallery of photos has always astounded me! The "Deep Field" photo has always been my favorite and desktop for many years. The incredible scope and ramifications of that "grain of sand" shot into the sky humbles me every time I see it. If Hubble must fall and burn it's AMAZING there is 75 million available/bugeted to make it happen other than towards saving it! Recent decisions may be best considering it's age and technology but a sad loss for an incredible tool for us to see beyond this little rock we live on. That deep field photo makes every dollar spent worthwhile to me! JMHO
Posts: 30 Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Location: Las Cruces, New Mexico
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 9:22 am
They are dropping the funding because to service it they have to send up a satellite or shuttle crew and we all know how dangerous (and expensive) that is these days. Fortunately the funding was cut because they are building an even more powerful space telescope that has features that make Hubble obsolete. Hubble was just a proof of concept for the Space Telescope, and it worked. Hubble was only the beginning of this future form of astronomy.
