The Hubble space telescope is a historical piece of equipment. Would it make more sense to load it into the space shuttle bay and bring it home and display it for generations to come than to let it burn up? I'd love to visit the Smithsonian Institute and see it in person.
I think it's too heavy, they can't land the shuttle with that weight on board. If they could they'd bring her home, repair and update it and put it back in space.
That would be great. The HST was not designed to be returned to Earth intact, however; the Shuttle couldn't land with it aboard. To have designed it in such a way that it could be brought back would have meant making it smaller, lighter, and less capable.
It would be possible to launch multiple shuttle missions to disassemble the HST and return it in pieces. This could be done only if practically unlimited funds were available and if the Shuttle weren't a death trap. Even if such a venture didn't cost any priceless lives, it would make the HST the most expensive museum piece in history; probably worth more than all the world's Rembrandts put together!
More practical would be to fabricate a replica from parts that were removed from the HST during servicing missions, spares, simulator parts, a donated mirror, and some new fabrications. That could be done for less than the price of a single Rembrandt, and it would be a fitting tribute to what has been the single most important scientific instrument in history.
Davoud
The correct man is the Smithsonian Institution, not Smithsonian Institute ;)
mike hunt
Thanks for catching my mistake. I hope this isn't any indication I'm about to misplace my wallet or keys. mark_
I guy told me I was exhibiting the first stages of 'old timers,' as he called it, when I forgot to zip my fly. I old him the first stages is when you forget to UNZIP your fly LOL
mike hunt
If you're willing to fly a shuttle mission to bring it back (which, as others have pointed out, cannot be done, not in one piece anyway) then why bring it back? Do a service mission and keep it in service many more years. Last I heard they didn't want to risk lives to do this (speaking here just of the ordinary risks associated with flying the shuttle to anyplace but the space station which could serve as a safe haven if need be, not some special risk associated with Hubble) and were studying some far fetched robotic mission to do this and barring that unlikely outcome, they would launch some unmanned vehicle which will attach to Hubble and allow a controlled "deorbit" and it burns up on reentry. That's a shame.
No doubt astronauts would gladly volunteer to do a life extending service mission. Of course, being astronauts, they naturally want to fly so would eagerly undertake any sort of mission. But life extension on the Hubble is just as scientifically valid as completing the space station.
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