Avi Blizovsky
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/1799836.html
The future of the Hubble Space Telescope is once again in doubt after the White House refused to approve a budget for the rescue plan.
NASA will officially announce the decision in February, thus putting an end to the plan to send humans or robots to upgrade it, the Washington Post said. The cost of the service is expected to be over a billion dollars and the budget has been cut from the federal requirement. For 15 years, Hubble has taken the most amazing images of space .
Even in the planning stages of the telescope, it was built so that it could be upgraded, and that it would receive periodic visits from astronauts who would make repairs and install new equipment. Three such upgrade missions have been carried out to date in 1993, 1997 and 2002 and the mission that was planned to be the last and now canceled was supposed to be launched in 2006.
Despite the budget cut, the telescope is not yet disabled, but will continue to operate until time and wear give their signals. Its initial mission, by the way, was for 15 years, and it was extended to 20, when with the help of the 2006 upgrade, the telescope was supposed to operate until 2010.
As mentioned, Prof. Mario Livio expressed this in a special interview for the science website, formerly the scientific director of the Hubble Space Telescope, hopes that some mission - robotic or manned - will reach Hubble and extend its life.
For news at the BBC
The knowledge of man and space
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~1799836~~~210&SiteName=hayadan
