Save the Hubble 02/06/2004 messages
Read messages of the previous day, here .
Save the Hubble Inspiring Message of the Day:
"I be on your side! Write me when you need Help."Greetings from Germany, Andreas. (I will, thank you Andreas. S.t.H.)
Save the Hubble Idea of the Day:
HEY! I THINK WE MIGHT HAVE A WINNER HERE!
" Apologies if I am missing something obvious - but consider the following. The main reason for not servicing the Hubble is there is no safe haven or tile repair system if the orbiter were to be damaged during take off. The shuttle payload bay has dimensions 15x60ft (4.6x18.3m) and has a maximum payload weight of approx 50,000lbs (22,680kg) A Soyuz TM is 7m long, 2.7m diameter and weighs about 7 tons. So.... on a mission to replace Hubble gyros or add new instruments why not just load up 2 x Soyuz into the orbiter payload bay? In the unlikely event of the shuttle being damaged on the way to orbit you have a bail out facilty for 6 astronauts.
If transfer from the orbiter to 2 different Soyuz's is a problem then fly a skeleton crew of 3 and engineer a docking adapter directly from the shuttle payload bay to the Soyuz." Andy Long, UK (First it was the Radar now this! These guys are awsome! S.t.H.)
Save the Hubble Reason of the Day:
"The Hubble Space Telescope should be maintained as an operational space observatory at least until replacement space observatories (e.g. JWST) are in orbit and fully operational. Actually it would be preferable to maintain HST until a visible light replacement is up and operating. At least the HST is maintainable in Earth orbit and many future observatories such as JWST and TPF are placed at L2 precluding the ability to perform manned maintenance."Robert Jones.
Save the Hubble Angry Remark of the Day:
"Instead of them just signing a petition, why not have all these people signing the petition donate or get another job to help pay for the Hubble. It isn't free to operate. It is going to become out dated and need to be replaced.I feel your petition is not worth it and going against the grain of science. It's about going forward, and you can't do that with old technology. If anything, you should be starting a petition to put a Hubble on the dark side of the moon. That, Mr. Democrat (as stated on your site), would be worth it. Sincerely, Garret Laborde, Baton Rouge, La. (Hubble's capabilities are highly improved in every Servicing Mission. The statement is that this is a democraTIC SITE not that I am a democraT. This site is not about me. S.t.H.)
John Reints pointed out to me that the use I made of the "challenging" word might cause some confusion, here is the fix, thank you John. (S.t.H.)
(...) politically challenged" is understood by most people in the US to mean "politically foolish" or "politically stupid." Where you use the phrase "Save the Hubble Politically Chalenging Message of the Day," about half your US readers will think (as I did until a had read several of the messages) that you are suggesting that the person who posted the message was "politically challenged," i.e., not very smart politically.
(...)you could make the small change to "Save the Hubble Best Political Challenge of the Day," and that would convey your original sense to more of the US readers.
Save the Hubble Best Political Challenge of the Day:
(this IS a democratic site!)
"Dear Savethebubble.com:
We must not overreact to President Bush's statements about manned space travel by abandoning Hubble. Why not? Because the Bush administration is notorious for such press-release politics. That is, there is neither planned policy, coherent philosophy, nor vision for America behind Bush's space "initiative." He was throwing a piece of spaghetti against the wall to see if it would stick.
If President Bush were serious about manned travel, he would have included something about it in his 2004 State of the Union (SOTU) address. By omitting any reference whatsoever, he revealed his lack of committment to the plan. The reason is clear: There was nearly universal negative feedback to the space announcment; the spaghetti did not stick. Hubble must not be abandoned based on the empty words of a president fishing for election-year votes." Bob Hoffman Grandview, Missouri.
Save the Hubble Philosophical Quote of the Day:
"For too long now we have sent a message to the youth of America that science, math, astronomy, take a back seat to other professions and academics. Even more concerning is the notion that vision, dreams, and long term ambitious goals cannot be achieved without sacrificing immediate needs. The Hubble expanded our knowledge of the universe and captured the imagination of thousands of children, young adults, and generations of all nationalities. As such it should be acknowledge for its contributions and for the lessons it taught, not only in astronomy and physics but in space science technology; to place it in orbit, operated it, repair it and service it. I think a real effort, a significant effort, an effort in keeping with it's contributions, should be made to bring it back to earth and place it in the National Air & Space Museum. I personally would contribute to such a mission, to raise the necessary resources, whatever it takes to bring it home so that future generations can see one of the greatest examples of vision and challenge to the sciences. H. Chandler Williamson. La Canada, CA. (Well said! S.t.H.)
Save the Hubble Non-English Message of the Day:
"O Hubble é uma janela para o espaço, com ele aprendemos a sonhar e a explorar novas conjecturas sobre essa história fantástica da complexidade, que em caso algum pode ser interrompida. O conhecimento, apesar de muitas das suas contradições, é a nossa principal oportunidade para construir um mundo melhor." Maria e Carlos Oliveira
S.t.H. translates:
"Hubble is a window to space, with it we learned to dream and explore new conjectures about this fantastic history of complexity, that under no circumstances should be interrupted. The knowledge, despite many of it's contradictions, is our main opportunity to build a better world." Maria e Carlos Oliveira
Save the Hubble Reason Not to of the Day:
- Hubble has not been reliable and requires costly maintenance. It is a pink elephant in regards to cost.
- To repair Hubble requires a special orbit for the shuttle, so that the shuttle is limited to just repairing - Hubble.
- The current Nasa policy requires all shuttle flights to have an orbit so that they can divert to the International Space Station (ISS). This policy was put into effect due to loss of life.
- The Hubble is doomed due to this policy, not politics.
- To fix Hubble may put lives on the line.
- Hubble produces pretty pictures and, for the next century or so, purely esoteric information.
- There is a Hubble replacement being built now; bigger, and hopfully, more reliable.
- Tugs do not exists and to develop them will be costly and take much time.
- By the time a tug is practical the Hubble replacement would likely be operational.
For political reasons or not; the Hubble is not a very good idea, in my opinion, for the above reasons. Lets put a lid on this waste by canning Hubble and get to work on exploiting the Moon, Mars, and asteroid resources.
The ISS is a project intended as a stepping stone to "exploration" (but really, it is for eventual commercial gain). If there is money to be made by corporations in space; then there will be more jobs. If we need more technology to get there, then there will be a need for people to develop it.
Priming this space pump will be very expensive. If we do not spend it on space, the politicians are going to spend it on their own PORK BARRELS. Do you really thing they will spend more on health and welfare??? Lets can Hubble because it makes sense (to me, any ways). John Emery ("purely esoteric information"? C'mon! S.t.H)