The future of the HST

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

For your interest

http://www.popsci.com.au/space/is-nasa-going-to-let-the-hubble-telescope-burn,398481

Cheers

[xelasnave]

It is terrible to think the days of the great Hubble Telescope will end.
I don't understand why they don't keep up upgrading it...being close to Earth makes it within range of a short servicing run...I wonder if they have worked out how to service the new one.It is going to be a long way to get serviced.
I am sure good research could be done with Hubble while ever it is up there even if it is not cutting edge equipment...it must still be real good at something.
Don't let it drop until everyone who can use it has used it...only then is it useless.
And bring it back to stand in the Smithsonian.
Or recycle the primary mirror..now that is what needs fixing..that's probably why they will let it drop..after all the primary could be a lot better.
One forgets this flaw.
I wonder how good it could have been if the primary was not flawed.
Yes bring it back regrind and polish the primary and send it back up.
We need a better space shuttle..one that can grab Hubble and bring it back and take it back up when it's repaired...a space ute

[bojan]

It's probably all about money..

[xelasnave]

I am going to spend the rest of the day designing a space ute..
finally clean up the space junk.
Do they have any plans for a better shuttle.

[xelasnave]

Yes Bogan it is all about the money. It is the money that will decide.
If it were on Earth how many paying customs per year would pay to see it.
What is the ratio between such income and re entry delivery.
I wonder how cheaply you could bring it back..that's the engineering challenge

[bojan]

Hi Alex, I am not Bogan.. I am Bojan ;)

[xelasnave]

My apologies

[ZeroID]

I'd love to see it stay there and become more available to others if there was nothing left for it to do but it all boils down to the old $$$$$ as usual. I still think there is a lot more it is capable of but ....

And unfortunately without the shuttle there is nothing around that is capable of collecting and returning it back to earth. I suspect even the shuttle would have had difficulty landing with all the extra weight involved.

[sn1987a]

Well if they can attach a rocket to it why not use orbital slingshots with the Earth and Moon and give it a really big send off?.

[ZeroID]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[bojan]

As for recycling the mirror..
There is another one built and stored (with the same error because they used the same test jig.. which is still there as well because noone bothered to dismatle it ($$$ again!)

Sooo... all of us are just dreaming here ;)

[GeoffW1]

Hi Bojan,

It is dangerous for you to go so close. :rofl:

I know a bloke called Angus, and he jokes that the spellcheckers in his PC etc are always rendering that as 'Anus'. He has to proofread very carefully :rofl:

Cheers

[Ric]

It will be sad to see it go after all this time and it's wonderful discoveries and images.

And how is the James Webb scope going these days? It's been quiet lately.

[bojan]

I cant help.. I was given that name by my parents :P
It's actually even worse: my initials are BS.
So I am always using "BAS" instead ;)

[clive milne]

That is not strictly correct.
Perkin Elmer sublet the contract for the back-up mirror to Eastman Kodak. They were made and tested with different methods; Kodak used a full sized lap, Perkin Elmer used sub diameter laps. Even if the testing error had been picked up, the Kodak mirror would still have been a better performer because it was smoother (as well as being properly corrected)