The battle over the future of the Hubble Space Telescope has taken a turn for the better, at least from the perspective of the observatory's supporters. The conflict began on January 16th, when NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe shocked astronomers worldwide by announcing that there will be no more Space Shuttle missions to maintain and upgrade the orbiting telescope. Five days later Senator Barbara Mikulski, whose home state of Maryland hosts both the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and the Space Telescope Science Institute, sent a letter to O'Keefe asking him to reconsider his decision. In the week thereafter, her request was bolstered by a huge outcry from professional astronomers, backyard stargazers, and the public -- including many SKY & TELESCOPE readers who wrote to express their concerns. Apparently bowing to all this pressure, O'Keefe has now agreed to reconsider his decision to abandon Hubble....[S&T's Weekly News Bulletin 01-30-04]
posted by Marcus Zillman |
5:00 AM
