Repair or Replace the Hubble Telescope

[5stringJeff]

Yes, but you won't reach an end. You can keep drawing over and over, around and around, and you will never reach a barrier. The definition of infinite is without end. The universe is the same, you can travel in any direction, forever, and you will never reach the end. The universe is just warped three-dimensionally the way a plane is warped two-dimensionally to form the surface of a sphere. Infinite in expanse, but finite in volume like the surface of a sphere is finite in surface area but infinite in expanse.

Whether you agree with that or not, that's what they mean when they say the Universe is infinite.

Mind boggling but true... i tried to picture that when I read Stephen Hawking's book.

 

[Zhukov]

i want a front row seat to that!

And I'd like the back row of the balcony....Mars should be sufficient....

....with a telescope of course.

And now we've come full circle, building telescopes on Mars to look at Earth.

 

[drowe]

Hell, if we canceled half of the 23 new Presidential helicopters (program price an astounding $6.2 billion! See this link: http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17400), the contract for which was recently awarded to the British and Italians, we could afford to put one Hubble replacement in Earth orbit,

I mentioned this the day the contract announcement was made.

http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17193

Sikorsky's product costs just as much maybe a little more. Furthermore the Structural Life Extension Program (SLEP) combined with regular component upgrades and retrofits on the nearly 50-year-old Sikorsky H-3 aircraft currently used by HMX-1, costs more than the acquisition of the new helicopters over time as a recurring cost.

I know the fact that the new Presidential helicopter design is not American in origin and this may be hard to deal with (I initially had a difficult time with it). But, the question I asked myself was, “would I rather the President be a passenger in a lower quality aircraft just because it was designed in the US or in a better aircraft that is combat proven, flown more hours and has a good reliability record?”

Defense acquisition contracts are sometimes not what they seem and the media plays on that ambiguity just as they do...let’s say Presidential elections for example. I'm almost certain that no matter who received the contract the media would have skewed it unfavorably.

disclaimer - When production starts here I will be working on the program so yes, I’m a little biased.

 

[MJDuncan1982]

Space is definitely not infinite in volume. It's like a balloon getting inflated starting at the Big Bang.

And who knows what we don't know. I for one don't see the sense is saying "Quit exploring, it costs too much money." It's just money - something with constructive value. We could find things like cures that have intrinsic value to the human population.

And what we have learned by looking extremely far away is the probability of the Big Bang. Until we saw back to close to that moment, space was still thought of as just infinite in every direction.

It is my personal belief that knowledge is an end in itself worthy of being pursued.

 

[sagegirl]

I hope for the Hubble to be repaired......Funding, well we could maybe, just possibly do without those presidential helicopters, and other war toys, and maybe even do without the war. NASA has long been underfunded and albeit at times mismanaged, it has still provided us with what I think are some of our most shining moments and they along with JPL show us our best and brightest, doing the most imaginative.

 

[CSM]

I hope for the Hubble to be repaired......Funding, well we could maybe, just possibly do without those presidential helicopters, and other war toys, and maybe even do without the war. NASA has long been underfunded and albeit at times mismanaged, it has still provided us with what I think are some of our most shining moments and they along with JPL show us our best and brightest, doing the most imaginative.

Sure, lets dis band the military and while we are at it lets get rid of welfare and grants to artists too...I'll trade you military funding for welfare funding...whaddya say?

 

[sagegirl]

Sure, lets dis band the military and while we are at it lets get rid of welfare and grants to artists too...I'll trade you military funding for welfare funding...whaddya say?

Lets solve our problems rather than just fighting and perpetuating them. the military and welfare. Then we can explore, do you have any curiosity, want to learn anything new?

 

[CSM]

Lets solve our problems rather than just fighting and perpetuating them. the military and welfare. Then we can explore, do you have any curiosity, want to learn anything new?

Nope I dont.

Seriously, I believe there must be a balance. Seems to me there will always be problems and it becomes a matter of priorities...Space exploration is a worthy effort and should be funded appropriately...so is defending the United States from foriegn aggressors...and so is helping the less fortunate. There has to be a balance; the problem is that one person's priorities is not necessarily another's.

 

[sagegirl]

Nope I dont.

Seriously, I believe there must be a balance. Seems to me there will always be problems and it becomes a matter of priorities...Space exploration is a worthy effort and should be funded appropriately...so is defending the United States from foriegn aggressors...and so is helping the less fortunate. There has to be a balance; the problem is that one person's priorities is not necessarily another's.

Dont get bogged down in the day to day problems that seem to plague us. I too understand priorities but the ultimate challenge is to put it all in perspective. I dont mean that we should not care or be concerned, and I do on both accounts. It would be difficult to enjoy the wonders of the universe if youre being shot at or starving. On the other hand, (and this is sort of hard to put in words) I think that positive energy flows or fills negative energy. Thusly to explore and wonder, to have curiosity, to solve problems, to have fun will also serve our species. It sort of follows along the course of the popular slogan "the end justifies the means"......there are different ways of getting there.

 

[CSM]

Dont get bogged down in the day to day problems that seem to plague us. I too understand priorities but the ultimate challenge is to put it all in perspective. I dont mean that we should not care or be concerned, and I do on both accounts. It would be difficult to enjoy the wonders of the universe if youre being shot at or starving. On the other hand, (and this is sort of hard to put in words) I think that positive energy flows or fills negative energy. Thusly to explore and wonder, to have curiosity, to solve problems, to have fun will also serve our species. It sort of follows along the course of the popular slogan "the end justifies the means"......there are different ways of getting there.

No argument from me. We as a species have an innate curiousity about the world around us (good thing too!) and that curiousity has brought many benefits to us. Exploration of both our own planet and others in our solar system have always fascinated me. The "space race" was in full swing when I was a youngster and the news was always filled with stories of space exploration. Somehow, we as a nation seemed to lose interest, probably because of costs and politics. It is good to see the national interests picqued again in this area.

 

[no1tovote4]

Dont get bogged down in the day to day problems that seem to plague us. I too understand priorities but the ultimate challenge is to put it all in perspective. I dont mean that we should not care or be concerned, and I do on both accounts. It would be difficult to enjoy the wonders of the universe if youre being shot at or starving. On the other hand, (and this is sort of hard to put in words) I think that positive energy flows or fills negative energy. Thusly to explore and wonder, to have curiosity, to solve problems, to have fun will also serve our species. It sort of follows along the course of the popular slogan "the end justifies the means"......there are different ways of getting there.

And one of these would be to sell or give the Hubble to Private groups that will fund and repair the telescope. There should be more contests like the one that SpaceShip One won that give incentive for people to figure new ways to get to space. The amazing fuel that they used for that spacecraft alone was something worth noting.

I also believe in the space program fully, it gives back to the US in ways that we do not always comprehend. I posted a long list of stuff that have directly contributed to our economy and health; let alone psychiatric health from the discoveries. The space program and military research are two areas that actually pay back themselves by boosts in the economy. Without military research we wouldn't have cell phones, two way hand-held radios, we can go on but that isn't the point of this post. Both types of research are important and vital to the health of the economy, let alone physical and psychiatric well-being.

To give up the benefits we receive from research of this type is simply foolish, and to take from the public one of the largest symbols of this particular research regardless of what it contributes to the furthering of the research would be simply self-defeating. This particular telescope gives to the youth that sense of wonder that will create the new scientists and researchers. A visual representation that is so important to the continued support of the space program not only monetarily, but in future personnel and the imagination of the population at large.

 

[Zhukov]

I hope for the Hubble to be repaired......Funding, well we could maybe, just possibly do without those presidential helicopters, and other war toys, and maybe even do without the war.

We could all do without war. That's why it's important to win them.

And once we are done killing the barbarians we can get on with trying to have a civilization here, and doing fun stuff like spending money exploring space.

I don't resent the Federal Government for the money that it spends on Defense that could be otherwise allocated to NASA, I resent the barbarians around the world that make such monetary deferments necessary.

 

[no1tovote4]

We could all do without war. That's why it's important to win them.

And once we are done killing the barbarians we can get on with trying to have a civilization here, and doing fun stuff like spending money exploring space.

I don't resent the Federal Government for the money that it spends on Defense that could be otherwise allocated to NASA, I resent the barbarians around the world that make such monetary deferments necessary.

We should thank all the little gods that we are rich and powerful enough we can spend money on both at once. Maybe not as much as we want as the war is clearly more important, but we still can and do.