Post by Maddad on Feb 3, 2005 18:52:04 GMT -6
With anyone who has viewed the incredible detail in a high resolution Hubble photograph, the issue of saving the Hubble Telescope or letting it crash in flames is not just an intellectual issue, but it is an emotional one as well. Hubble is expensive, and we do not live in a world of infinite resources. We must decide with our heads, at least as much as our hearts, what we should do with the funds that would be required to salvage Hubble.
We need to know how much the operation would cost, and what the chance of success would be. We need to know how long Hubble will last if we do not finance a mission to maintain it. We need to know the size of the gap that Hubble will leave between going blind and the time a suitable replacement picks up the slack. We cannot answer most of these questions absolutely. For instance, if we choose not to service Hubble then we cannot say how long it will stay operational. We can only guestimate.
While we consider these questions, we should consider what programs we would not fund because we spent the money on Hubble instead. It is useless saying that the cost of a few days of the war in Iraq could sponsor the mission because we cannot suspend those operations as a means financing Hubble. We have to ask where the money would come from, what we would not get, if we did get Hubble. We have to think with our heads.
Having said that, I also think with my heart. If Hubble goes down, then we will stop getting titanic pictures (1.8 megabytes and 4,600 x 3,600 pixels at www.maddad.org/astronomy/images/ngc-3370-01d.jpg ) like the spiral galaxy NGC 3370 which shows more beauty and detail than we could have ever imagined before. Remember though, the loss will only be for a short time.
We need to know how much the operation would cost, and what the chance of success would be. We need to know how long Hubble will last if we do not finance a mission to maintain it. We need to know the size of the gap that Hubble will leave between going blind and the time a suitable replacement picks up the slack. We cannot answer most of these questions absolutely. For instance, if we choose not to service Hubble then we cannot say how long it will stay operational. We can only guestimate.
While we consider these questions, we should consider what programs we would not fund because we spent the money on Hubble instead. It is useless saying that the cost of a few days of the war in Iraq could sponsor the mission because we cannot suspend those operations as a means financing Hubble. We have to ask where the money would come from, what we would not get, if we did get Hubble. We have to think with our heads.
Having said that, I also think with my heart. If Hubble goes down, then we will stop getting titanic pictures (1.8 megabytes and 4,600 x 3,600 pixels at www.maddad.org/astronomy/images/ngc-3370-01d.jpg ) like the spiral galaxy NGC 3370 which shows more beauty and detail than we could have ever imagined before. Remember though, the loss will only be for a short time.