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Thursday May 28, 2009
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It's looking like the repairs were a success: NASA scientists are calling the Hubble Space Telescope "better than new" after putting it through a battery of tests following the recent fifth--and final-- space shuttle repair mission, according to Space.com.
"All of those have gone beautifully," Ed Weiler, NASA's science mission chief, told reporters after Atlantis landed in California on Sunday. "Everything is going well, as far as I can tell." He added that NASA will finish all of the calibrations and electronics tests by the end of the summer, with a new and improved Hubble "once more ready for science observations" in late August.
The latest updates should extend Hubble's life through at least 2014, which would then overlap with NASA's next great observatory: the infrared-scanning James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled to launch in 2013, according to the report.
Weiler served as Hubble's chief scientist from the project's inception in 1979 through 1998.
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May 28, 2009 10:35 AM
I CAN'T SEEM TO GET IT PASS THE MONEY SPEND ON EXPLORATION WHEN WE CAN'T EVEN GET THINGS DONE RIGHT ON EARTH LET ALONE A REACHING CAMERA THAT WILL BE OBSLETE IN 10 YEARS AND REPLACED WITH TAX PAYERS MONEY'S THAT IS SET ASIDE. I CAN'T GET OVER ALL THE SEARCHING FOR NEW PLANET'S THAT NOT IN 50 LIVE TIMES WILL WE SEE OR VISIT UNLESS WE BREAK SPEED LIMITS AND GO FOR BROKE. I KNOW THEY ARE WORKING ON THIS BUT NOT IN THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS AND ALSO A NEW FLIGHT SYSTEM THAT WILL GO UP AS OUR OLD IS DISCONTINUED
May 28, 2009 12:03 PM
Linda, You must have the brains of a gnat! Apparently, you can't fathom the 'real world' scientific break-throughs that space exploration has generated.
Yes, America isn't perfect, but the poorest of our poor are rich compared to those in the third world. We can do more here on earth; but we MUST keep reaching for the stars, as well.
May 28, 2009 9:43 PM
H00b1e says, "1 3nvy y0ur t3chn0109y".