NASA Cancels Shuttle Missions to Hubble

[peterh]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7729701.htm


WASHINGTON - NASA is canceling all space shuttle servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope, a decision that, in effect, will cause the powerful observatory to slowly degrade and eventually become useless, officials said Friday.
John Grunsfeld, NASA's chief scientist, said NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe made the decision to cancel the fifth space shuttle service mission to the Hubble when it became clear there was not enough time to conduct it before the shuttle is retired. The servicing mission was considered essential to enable the orbiting telescope to continue to operate.
"This is a sad day," said Grunsfeld, but he said the decision "is the best thing for the space community."
He said the decision was influenced by President Bush's new space initiative, which calls for NASA to start developing the spacecraft and equipment for voyages to the moon and later to Mars. The president's plan also called for the space shuttle to be retired by 2010. Virtually all of the shuttle's remaining flights would be used to complete construction of the International Space Station.


Yes, it is a sad day….stupid politics wins again….more info in the link below….

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0401/16hubblesm4/

[IndianaGreen]

1. All of the money for the fly boys

at the expense of science, and as a prelude to the permanent militarization of space.

I hope China gets there first!

[westman]

6. You hope China

gets ther first? I don't.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[IndianaGreen]

17. China is not communist or socialist

It is a country with an authoritarian one-party capitalist government. You should have known that!

[westman]

18. That's either delusional

or tongue-in-cheek!

[IndianaGreen]

20. That is an accurate description of what China is today!

I haven't been blinded by the anti-socialist propaganda we have been fed for the last 150 years in our schools, newspapers, media, and culture.

China is no more socialist, or communist, than George Bush is GAWD's Annointed One.

[westman]

34. That answers it--

delusional!

[IndianaGreen]

23. BBC: China to protect private property (22 December 2003)

For those who are still under the mistaken perception that China is either communist or socialist, here is an article from the BBC:

Last Updated: Monday, 22 December, 2003, 11:17 GMT
China to protect private property

By Francis Markus
BBC, Shanghai

Members of China's National People's Congress have introduced a proposed amendment to the constitution, which will legally protect private property rights for the first time since 1949.

The official Xinhua news agency said lawmakers also proposed an amendment to enshrine in the constitution the theories of Jiang Zemin, the former president who invited capitalists to join the Communist Party.

China's parliament has begun discussing the amendments, which go right to the heart of the sweeping economic reforms of recent years.

Perhaps the most significant change is an amendment guaranteeing private property rights.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3340161.stm

[starroute]

35. "IT tycoon tops China's 2003 richest list"

http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-10/16/content_272630.htm

"Three out of this year's top 20 magnates on China's mainland are from the IT industry, a sharp contrast to last year when none from that sector made the grade, according to the list compiled by Rupert Hoogewerf, who had worked on the Forbes China list over the past four years.

"Ding Lei, the 32-year-old chairman of NetEase.com Inc, swept to the No 1 spot with a personal wealth of US$900 million, thanks to a 50-fold surge in the firm's share price since the end of 2001.

<snip>

"Chen Tianqiao, who owns online games developer Shanda Networking Development, leapt to the 10th place with a personal wealth of US$480 million. Chen switched to the online gaming business in 2001 after setting up a cartoon Website in 1999. He has since then seen his company attract 150 million registered users to the online game platform.

<snip>

"As many as 40 new names have appeared on this year's rich list with the enlisted 100 rich people averaging a personal wealth of US$230 million."

[NickB79]

31. I'd like to see the US work WITH China

Along with Russia, Britain, France, Canada, and Japan the same way we worked together to build the ISS. I see no problem in involving the Chinese in the exploration of space; it would allow us to afford to launch much more extensive projects than we could ever do on our own. And working with them would foster a better relationship between our nations beyond simply importing/exporting goods to each other and threatening each other over Taiwan.

But I'm sure that's too radical for most. After all, I'm sure some Freeper would simply claim the Chinese were only in it to steal US technology to build better nukes and missiles.

[daleo]

2. Stop servicing Hubble to finish ISS

Then pull out of ISS to go to the moon and Mars. All on about $20 billion per year. If Clinton would have made plans this hare-brained the news would have been on him 24 hours a day, pointing out the absurdity. But, I suppose that this will be construed as a bold new vision.

[kysrsoze]

25. Exactly - I'm thinking this is how they start space defense - if anything

I have NO confidence that they'll actually go through with this mission - there is no money in it. Meanwhile, they can cancel frivolous programs like the Hubble and shuttles. Why put something 200 miles from earth? Too easy to get at.

Most people have no idea how much they were going to squeeze out of Hubble in its last few years. They were essentially going to pull the guts out and replace it al with the most advanced viewing systems currently possible. They expected it to confirm a number of suspected theories on the plasma fields/antimatter which takes up the space between galaxies and counteracts gravity.

Makes me also wonder if they're going to go through with the next telescope project set to launch in 2011.

[joeunderdog]

33. Dems should campaign on this. Hubble is VERY popular.

Unfortunately it can't shoot down Commie bastards, invade defenseless countries in search of weapons of mass destruction or shoot laser beams at Democrats, and that's why it's being scrapped. Hubble has been enormously successful and people feel proud of it. Dems should define their own ideas on space spending and make it a campaign issue.

Bush wants to spend how many trillions in space and not have Hubble? He looks weak (as usual.)

[Khephra]

3. You'd think they could hold out on retiring the shuttle

until this is done. Shit, this is so stupid that I don't know what to say. Hubble has been one of NASA's greatest accomplishments! $#%&!!!

[pmbryant]

4. Bush wins. Science loses. (Here's an earlier thread in GD about this.)

I posted a thread about this in the General Discussion forum earlier this afternoon. I see it has hit the mainstream press now.

First victim of Bush's Mars stunt: Hubble Space Telescope!?

Very sad day. This is a pointless and wasteful decision.

It looks like within a year or two, Hubble will be a mere shadow of its former self, and useless soon after that.

:-(

:grr:

--Peter

[enough]

5. Anything great about the United States of America --

*Bush will destroy.

[necso]

7. It's not like these idiots

really give a damn about space exploration or science for that matter. Chiseling a few bucks out of NASA in the name of some BS that will never happen, while they fill the pockets of their core.

Sad day for the US... of course every day that these clowns are in office is a sad day for the US.

[Gman]

8. The new shuttle will be used to study creation science

as well as ways to increase that oh so good for us CO₂.

Gee, the wonders of modern science.

Think I'm kidding?

[MrMonk]

9. Absurd

If I understand the article correctly, NASA is scrubbing the final mission scheduled for the Hubble for some arbitrary deadline dictated by Bush*. NASA can certainly afford that one last mission to preserve Hubble's usefulness, rather than sacrifice NASA's crown jewel (and a bunch of sunk money) for Bush*s moon-pie-in-the-sky military space plan.

I have a sad feeling that part of the plan is to stall or kill the space telescope that was scheduled to replace the Hubble. Perhaps the Hubble was returning too much information that ran counter to the creationist vision of the universe (no sarcasm intended). We can hope that the 2005 regime change will be able to reverse NASA's decision.

[54anickel]

10. Isn't there anything we can do? Someone we can write to stop this

decision? This is nuts.

[alarimer]

12. yes

Elect somebody else this year. Hopefully Dean/Clark/ Kerry or whomever will restore the missions to Hubble.

[IndianaGreen]

13. Of the 3 candidates you mentioned, I think Wes Clark is the one...

most likely to appreciate the role that space robotic missions have played in our understanding of our solar system and the universe. The space shuttle and the space station have harmed the science programs, costing a lot of money and lives, and producing little in terms of science value.

Wes Clark is a Renaissance man! He is not the rigid Cold War ideologue that some of his supporters seem to be, or the military stereotype that some of his detractors imagine him to be. Wes Clark is also not Bill Clinton, and as President he will spare us another spectacle of Clintonian obfuscations and triangulations that many of us on the Left found so disturbing.

The Pluto flyby mission was cancelled because NASA thought manned missions were more important. We lost a once-in-a-millennium opportunity to learn about this quirky "planet" and its odd moon.

Bush's space proposal has nothing to do with science, but everything to do with using the Moon as a weapons platform. The trip to Mars is visionary, but its vision is to procure Mars as a future resource to be exploited.

[alarimer]

19. I would agree

Except I think that the Hubble telescope (despite its early problems) is quite valuable. It can "see" a lot of things that can't be seen from Earth because of the atmosphere so it would be a shame to lose it. I do know that they are replacing it with something else, presumably even better, unless those plans are shelved too. But maybe that telescope can be launched by rocket instead of shuttle. I have no idea. I don't think manned missions at this point are all that important. I think putting people in space is at best symbolic. You do get more for your money with the robots and if something goes wrong it is just a robot.

[spanone]

14. Today on NPR a speculated it could die in 2007.

What a shame. John Glenn predicted just the other night that research programs in progress would have their monies consolidated for the "mars" project. The hubble has been incredible entertainment for the folks and I'm sure it provided incredible glimpses into the universe.

[spanone]

15. Today on NPR a speculated it could die in 2007.

What a shame. John Glenn predicted just the other night that research programs in progress would have their monies consolidated for the "mars" project. The hubble has been incredible entertainment for the folks and I'm sure it provided incredible glimpses into the universe.

[HEyHEY]

16. Nasa the only space agency with ADD

[LifeDuringWartime]

21. maybe another country could take control of it?

what other countries have good space programs?

[IndianaGreen]

22. CNN: China sets sights on Moon mission

China sets sights on Moon mission
Monday, March 3, 2003 Posted: 12:10 AM EST (0510 GMT)

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese space scientists, already believed to be preparing for the country's first manned space mission later this year, are setting their sights on the moon.

Plans have been submitted for an initial series of unmanned moon satellites and probes, paving the way for later manned missions, state-owned media reported Monday.

If approved by the government, the first mission could take off within the next two-and-a-half years scientists say.

The planned program, named Chang'e after a Chinese legend about a fairy who flies to the moon, would begin with a lunar orbiter mapping the surface of the moon, Luan Enjie, director of the China National Space Administration, told a conference over the weekend.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/03/02/china.moon/

[The_Casual_Observer]

24. According to Bush, we don't need this anymore

Any time now, we will have a fully manned moon base and all. And it will cost less that what we spend in a year in Iraq!

[Columbia]

26. Actually

If we do go back to the moon, we may set up a land-based telescope on the far-side of the moon that would enable us to see better than even Hubble could.

[The_Casual_Observer]

27. Dream on !

Not in our lifetimes.

[kysrsoze]

29. I assume you're saying that it will never be funded, right?

It's entirely possible. The dark side would shield the scope from all of earth's light.

[The_Casual_Observer]

30. That right, It would never be funded

And beyond that, supporting something like that would be a task greater than anything ever done since the beginning of time.

Face it ,they don't even have the money to complete BADLY needed road construction in Hampton Rhodes or Garden Grove Ca. So WTF.

[kysrsoze]

28. There's a third-generation telescope in the works...

Out by 2020, I believe. It's a cluster of four telescopes much like the two in Hawaii, which are linked. Not sure if it's infra-red or visible light - but they expect it would be able to actually see visuals of an planet near the size of Earth without being "blinded" by its star's light. It would also be able to discern which elements exist on that planet.

Too bad it will probably be cancelled.

[jpgray]

32. This is a disaster

My brother works at a college Astronomy department, and Hubble data is CRUCIAL their research of Eta Carinae. This idiotic Mars nonsense is ALREADY fucking over some seriously important research.

[RedCloud]

36. Pretty easy to reactivate Hubble

Just tell W to turn the telescope around to help us fight dern terrists.

BTW I believe the sun shoots something out called radiation that would have killed the astronauts on our first trip to the moon had a large burst coincided with their trip. It missed by a month or so.

I guess W realizes it takes lots of deaths to mobilize his people. So stay off the moon!