astronomy news

[gsh]

just got out of three hours of assorted NASA folk blowing sunshine up our collective ass. A shuttle service mission is not being planned. The current plan for robotic servicing is 39 months and 1.3 billion. HST is expected to degrade two gryos (out of six) sometime in 05, and the batteries are expected to fail by 09. If they go HST will break. I'll give the NASA guy his due, he was pretty straight forward, I'll just bet I can't find 10 astronomers who think a robotic mission is a good idea.

Comments

[aelf.livejournal.com]

You think *you're* getting sunshine. Here, all anyone every says is "they have to send a servicing mission" and I swear half the people who work here really believe that NASA will cave and send a manned mission before HST dies. I've learned astronomer types are optimists! *grin*

[gsh]

I think what they don't realize is that even if NASA *does* decide to do a shuttle servicing mission, they may not be able to get it done before 2009 or 2010.

Astronomers often think that because something is logically the best thing, that means it gets done. Astronomers don't live in the real world at times.