New Space Plan Calls for The Telescope's Retirement

Last week, President Bush announced a bold new space initiative that called for returning to the moon and eventually setting foot on Mars. While NASA engineers will focus on accomplishing these lofty goals, some recent projects, like the high-tech Hubble Space Telescope will eventually fall to the wayside. 

NASA recently announced the Hubble will be allowed to degrade and eventually become useless, as the agency changes focus to meet President Bush's new interplanetary mission. As a result, NASA has canceled all space shuttle servicing missions to the orbital telescope, which changed our stellar perspective with its striking images of the universe. John Grunsfeld, NASA's chief scientist, said Friday that NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe made the decision to cancel the fifth space shuttle service mission to the Hubble when it became clear there was not enough time to conduct it before the shuttle is retired. The servicing mission was considered essential to enable the orbiting telescope to continue to operate.

"This is a sad day," said Grunsfeld, but he said the decision "is the best thing for the space community."

Grunsfeld said the decision was influenced by President's new time line, which calls for NASA to start developing the spacecraft and equipment for voyages to the moon and later to Mars. The president's plan also called for the space shuttle to be retired by 2010 leaving all of the shuttle's remaining flights to complete construction of the International Space Station.

Without servicing missions, he said, the Hubble should continue operating until 2007 or 2008, "as long as we can." NASA was already planning to replace the Hubble with a new, improved version, called the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2011.

The observatory has ailing gyroscopes which were to be replaced on a delayed servicing mission. Software was being developed to work with only two gyroscopes but the telescope will not have the same capabilities. Grunsfeld said the Hubble control team will attempt to extend the life of the telescope, but the gyros will degrade. He also said that while the batteries on the craft are constantly recharged, they eventually "will run out of juice."

So, what fate lies ahead for the Hubble? NASA estimates the telescope will eventually fall out of orbit and crash to Earth, probably in 2011 or 2012. As with any ailing elder, NASA will design and build a small robot craft that will be launched and guided to the Hubble for the reentry.

FMI: www.nasa.gov