NASA Plans Robotic Fix For Hubble

[LiviaOlivia]

NASA Plans Robotic Fix For Hubble
By Guy Gugliotta
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 11, 2004; Page A01


NASA has decided to move ahead with an ambitious mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope using a robotic repairman to change batteries and gyroscopes, add new instruments, and maybe fix a malfunctioning spectrograph, agency officials said yesterday.

Al Diaz, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe traveled to Hubble's operational headquarters at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt late Monday and instructed the engineers there to begin serious work to put the robotic mission into space in 2007.

The decision marked a sharp turnabout for O'Keefe and NASA, which has suffered withering criticism since a January announcement that it would no longer service Hubble at all and would develop a robot whose only purpose would be to steer the telescope out of orbit and safely into a watery grave.

Diaz described the next nine months as "a design and testing phase" in which engineers will work out details of the mission to prove that a robotic servicing mission can be done. Then will come a "critical design review," in which the agency will decide whether to commit the money to finish the job. A successful mission would extend the life of the 15-year-old telescope by at least five years, Diaz said.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53687-2004Aug10.html

[JohnnyRingo]

1. After Buxh announced he would pull the plug....

This is good news

[LiviaOlivia]

2. Interesting timing.

Right before the big GOP lie-fest in NYC. Call me cynical but I bet this is a maneuver to counter Kerry's line in
Boston about being a President for science.

[daleo]

3. Today's Globe and Mail said the Canadian arm was top contender

This robot manipulator was being designed and built for use on the space station, to be launched in 2005, I think. It could be adapted for this Hubble mission. However, given the neo-cons disdain for Canada, and the high profile of the mission, I think it is quite likely they will insist on a U.S. designed robot.