[blam]

The Webb Telescope will replace the Hubble.

September 10,2002

"NASA ANNOUNCES CONTRACT FOR NEXT-GENERATION SPACE TELESCOPE NAMED AFTER SPACE PIONEER "

[MikeD]

True, the WST is coming but:

1. WST is an IR optimized telescope, so the images won't be as meaningful to the general public. For that matter, the images won't matter to anyone who doesn't care about IR stuff.

2. WST is scheduled for 2010. Do any NASA projects get off on time save the *really* critically timed ones? I don't expect it to launch for a year or two after that date.

3. Expensive as it was, we had the option to fix Hubble after we discovered an error in its surface figure. IIRC, WST will be at a LaGrange point, millions of miles from Earth. Kind of like SIRTF, or whatever they're calling it now.

Either way, my main question is why was it OK to repair Hubble and do all the other orbital missions before, but it's not OK now? Yeah, we know about falling foam, but there are a number of other critical things that could happen, too. That's just the one that got us last time.

MD