The Webb does not carry a visual light camera. We will not be able to see what the human eye can see through the Webb's systems.
The Webb is currently scheduled to go up in 2010 or 2011 at the earliest. Hubble will go down years before that. We will almost certainly miss something during that gap. Remember when that comet hit Jupiter?
In August, I noted a left-field idea involving equatorial-launched Soyuz missions to the Hubble. Obviously out there a ways, but maybe something a private organization might be willing to look into. Read my post at
http://www.murdoconline.net/archives/000354.html if interested. It includes a link to the original story.
In related news, the equatorial launch plan made the news the other day at
http://newsfromrussia.com/science/2004/02/05/52145.html .
I understand why NASA can't/won't make another servicing mission, but I believe that the Hubble is too valuable to just let die.
But it is not to valuable to let die. Even if they do go fix it they would only extend the life a few more years. The cost of doing more safety modifications to the shuttle plus building the necessary repair hardware and launching a mission is very prohibitive. Now they could do it with a modified Soyuz mission but that would be horrible PR and they would never seriously consider it. Yeah the Hubble is an amazing piece of engineering but sooner or later it will come down on it’s own. Putting it in a parking orbit is just storing something that is obsolete. Once the gyros go several other systems will be destroyed due to solar heating and after that repairing it will be worse that building a new one. No, drop the thing and build the next big scope on the moon where it will never fall to earth and will not need flaky gyros.