[Cincinatus' Wife]

Hubble is reaching the end of its service and there are better ways to use shuttle flights (finish station) and get on with the business at hand - an Earth-Moon system (exploration capability).

[Congressman Billybob]

It will cost additional hundreds of millions of dollars to "de-orbit" the Hubble. Why not sell the Hubble to Richard Branson for $1, since he has developed a cheaper method of going from here to there.

The private contractor just might be able to salvage the Hubble, which the gummint cannot. It's worth a go.

Congressman Billybob

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[Starrgaizr]

How about conceding defeat, de-orbiting the station, grounding the shuttle, build a new telescope, build a new manned system with technology from this century, and start on Mars.

[KevinDavis]

I'm thinking the whole Hubble controversy is just another way to bash Bush. I would like to know the scientists reaction if Clinton or another Democrat decided to shut down the Hubble?

[Paleo Conservative]

Hubble is reaching the end of its service and there are better ways to use shuttle flights (finish station)

The shuttle is a rather inefficient way to ferry modules to the International Space Station, because most of the mass comes back down to Earth. It's too bad a cargo only version of the Shuttle launch system was never built. It would take many fewer launches.

[The_Victor]

In a joint statement released this week, Mars Society president Robert Zubrin and Space Frontier Foundation founder, Rick Tumlinson, called upon NASA "to do what is necessary and mount a human mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope."

OK, what is necessary to put a human in orbit at the altitude of Hubble (now that the shuttle is operationally restricted to ISS rendevou orbits) is to build a new human-rated launch vehicle. Hubble begins to fail in three years, so that's a lot of work in a short period of time. How much money are the Mars Society and Space Frontier Foundation willing to put toward the effort?

[Brett66]

Maybe they could build future space telescopes with a design more accommodating to robotic servicing. Of course the James Webb space telescope will be in a Lagrange point over 240,000 miles away, better hope it doesn't develop glitches because there's no currently manned spacecraft that could reach it.

[airborne]

Why not sell it?

[You Dirty Rats]

The Shuttle should be permenently grounded. It's a death trap. The ISS just isn't enough of a reason to risk sending humans up into space. In addition, the cost is astronomical for the benefits gained.

Hubble is at too high an altitude for the Shuttle to service safely, much less a private contractor.

[RadioAstronomer]

Hubble is reaching the end of its service

Not even close. It was designed to be continuously upgraded. Serious loss to science.

[jriemer]