Hubble On The Chopping Block. Again.
The Entire Crab Nebula
From the Washington Post, October 29th:
As NASA learned when it canceled a planned shuttle mission to keep alive the Hubble Space Telescope almost three years ago, its orbiting source of jaw-dropping intergalactic images and deep insights into the early days of the universe had become something of an astronomic rock star.
The scientific and public response was overwhelming: The then-14-year-old Hubble had to be saved before its batteries and gyroscopes failed, and NASA was seriously misguided for refusing to send a shuttle crew to keep it running. This view was strongly endorsed by an expert panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences in late 2004.
Soon after, Michael D. Griffin became NASA administrator and agreed to reconsider the Hubble mission. On Tuesday, he will announce whether the telescope will be repaired or will be allowed to gradually run out of steam.
NASA said Friday that a series of events and briefings will follow the announcement at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt — the kind of activity that often accompanies a decision to go ahead with a big mission. But agency officials said that no decision had been reached and that Griffin will study the pros and cons over the weekend.
The Hubble has changed the way we view our universe. I hope they make the right call here.
Agreed. The pictures from the Hubble have given us images that are beautiful beyond human imagining. It is truly humbling…(hubbling?)
Comment on October 29, 2006 @ 7:17 am
Gorgeous shot byronius. I’m encouraged a rescue is still possible. I thought they’d made the wrong call long ago.
“It is truly humbling…(hubbling?)”
I forgot to mention, pandoras box, that punning is a bannable offense. You’re on notice.
(just kidding)
Comment on October 29, 2006 @ 8:45 am
Very crabby of you, Max.
Comment on October 29, 2006 @ 12:24 pm
I know you’re all going to claim that these rules are too nebulous…
Comment on October 29, 2006 @ 2:03 pm
Only if you pun-ish the innocent…
Comment on October 29, 2006 @ 6:24 pm
End of the pun run…
I was just staring at that awesome nebula wondering what it would be like to sail into the heart of it in a Galaxy class star cruiser.
Life's too short…
Comment on October 29, 2006 @ 10:27 pm
“to sail into the heart of it in a Galaxy class star cruiser”
Make it so, Number One!
Comment on October 30, 2006 @ 5:12 am
Aye-aye, Cap’n. Really. We were all supposed to be living in science fiction by now, weren’t we? Slow.
Comment on October 30, 2006 @ 8:28 am
I want my flying car!
Comment on October 30, 2006 @ 2:06 pm
They had one at NextFest — the same one they had ten years ago. It still doesn’t fly. And now all the controls look so seventies.
Comment on October 30, 2006 @ 4:55 pm
Was the Moller (sp?) thing? More info please? What’s nextfest?
Comment on October 30, 2006 @ 5:17 pm
GE’s emerging technologies festival.
http://www.nextfest.net/
It was in San Francisco, at the Fort — I found it fun, but a little hokey. Some things were important (like the new housing construction technologies, with solar-cell film and LED display siding), some were silly(like the X-Ray overcoat). The flying car (he lives in Davis) was one of the silliest. The interior was 1979 Dodge Dart; the turbines so big and open that the sound and vibration would surely kill someone. It was as if they cut up an old car and stuck a couple of turbine-looking things in it.
One onlooker was particularly scathing. He said he’d seen the same car at a show ten years ago, and the same scratchy videotape of the concept proof.
Nonetheless, I believe he is under very real but very super-secret contract with the Defense Department. So — not so surprising Joe Public gets to see the prototype for thirty years while the real stuff is flitting around the Arizona desert somewhere.
Painted black.
Comment on October 30, 2006 @ 5:39 pm
Hooray!
Comment on October 31, 2006 @ 9:22 am
Freakin’ awesome!
Comment on October 31, 2006 @ 9:29 am
I have heard from reputable sources that the tipping point of the decision was this post, and the ensuing comments.
Comment on October 31, 2006 @ 10:01 am
Who the heck is ‘byroniusi’? Is that plural of byronius? I thought the multiplicity of Max was bad. One of you guys posts enough as it is.
Comment on October 31, 2006 @ 10:13 am
Halloween, you know.
Comment on October 31, 2006 @ 10:41 am