Friday, May 22, 2009

Hip, hip, hubble!

NASA leadership may have agreed to the latest Hubble repair mission only under popular pressure, but now that the repair has happened -- well, wow! Kudos to all involved.

The HST, a great national treasure, has had its life extended and its value enhanced yet again. And doing so required -- people in space. No robot yet devised has the strength, dexterity, improvisational skills, and mobility to match what the latest repairmen brought to the orbiting observatory.

Now what does ESA plan to do when either Planck or Hershel, both on their way to separate halo orbits around the Earth/moon L2 point, develops a glitch? Oh, to be able to travel farther than we could in 1968.

(And an aside to the talented crew: enjoy your day off while the weather in Florida clears up.)

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