Save the Hubble 02/03/2004 messages
Read messages of the previous day, here .

Save the Hubble Inspiring Message of the Day:

"I am an eighth grade student in Highlands Ranch, Co.. I am interested in doing whatever I can to aid in your effort to keep the Hubble in orbit. I was researching to initiate my own "Save the Hubble" campaign when I ran across your site. I believe that it is an outrage to even consider the destruction of one of the greatest achievements in the interests of space exploration as well as the most used resource in early education of the space sciences. I would like to set up or assist with a local chapter. I will present this to my science teacher and administrators at my for their assistance. I also believe that I can get publicity and support from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science as well as the many space related organizations in the Denver area.Please let me know what you feel would be the best way for me to encourage support from here. Thank you, Ian Francis. (Thank you Francis! I'll let you know. S.t.H.)

 

Save the Hubble Reason of the Day:

"Hubble has produced some wonderful views of the Universe and helped answer many of our questions: What is the expansion rate of the universe, what is the shape of the universe, what do galaxies in the distant past look like, what are the host galaxies of quasars like. It has also made discoveries such as supermassive black holes in a wide range of galaxies and the first detection of an atmosphere on an extrasolar planet. With new instruments such as the Advanced Camera for Surveys Hubble has improved over the years. Both the Wide Field Camera 3 which will give 10x the survey power in the near Infrared and near Ultraviolet and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph will improve Hubble once again. These have already been completed, and it would be a waste of all that effort if they were not used to their full advantage by being placed inside HST. One point was made recently by the Mars Society, an advocacy group for manned exploration of Mars. In their response to President Bush's initiative, they spen 3 paragraphs denouncing the decision not to service Hubble. Apart from the loss to the scientific community they said that given that NASA are commited to the space station, refitting the shuttles so they can be launched again, but not going to Hubble is a poor choice. If we are risking astronauts lives going to the station but are not able to cope with a small extra risk in going to Hubble then we cannot be serious about sending humans to the Moon or Mars." Regards, Nicholas Cross Associate Research Scientist (Johns Hopkins University)

 

Save the Hubble Idea of the Day:

" ...If she must go then let her go with dignity, give her propulsion and send her in to deep space to keep working, you never know some day in the distant future we might receive a picture of our galaxy as seen from the Orion Nebula or the Sombrero Galaxy. Stranger things have happened..." John Corley (TEXAS)

 

Save the Hubble Angry Remark of the Day:

"Nasa is always complaining about not having enough funds for their programs. Doesn't it cost more to create and launch a new telescope than it does to just repair an old one? If you need to raise money, why not go on http://www.amazon.com and ask for donations? You can donate to the presidential cantidates on Amazon, why not to fund a CIVILLIAN Save the Hubble program. Heck, Nasa could get the funds they need that way also. In addition, anyone from anywhere in the world would be able to contribute. There are solutions out there, and I am ashamed that NASA is dropping the ball on this. To lose something as wonderful as the Hubble would be a disgrace to NASA." Deborah

Save the Hubble Best Political Challenge of the Day:
(this IS a democratic site!)

"The scientific benefits of Hubble to date are extraordinary. Most of the cost of the project have already been borne and the incremental cost of another mission are insignificant compared to the costs of going to Mars (which history shows will be 2-3X what is currently forecast). With close to $2,000,000,000,000 in deficit spending expected in the next 10 years, we would be better served by postponing a Mars mission until technology reduces the costs/risks and instead investing in a proven and largely paid for program." Corey Wurzner

 

Save the Hubble Philosophical Quote of the Day:

"This is one of the most noble efforts I have heard of to save something that must be saved. This is a disaster for the community and to hear that Bush wants to send a base to Mars and the Moon, while letting one of the big contributors to scientific discovery in the last 20 years fall to Earth, is appalling. For those who do not believe that this is important to our understanding of the universe, and ultimately ourselves, are just misinformed or ignorant of the implications of these types of discoveries. I think of this as the Genealogy of our existence and the answers to everyone's undying question; Why are we here? I believe that the religious sectors of our government are afraid that someday we may have something to prove that we are not alone or that our being is bound to something mush greater than ourselves. People who do not understand science should not be in control of its destiny!"Patrick Hayes (Thank you for the "most noble efforts" remark! S.t.H.)

 

Save the Hubble Non-English Message of the Day:

" El Hubble es un ejemplo del esfuerzo humano por buscar, descubrir y preguntarse sobre quienes somos y donde vivmos. Algo tan evidente precisa de un esfurezo internacional para que siga mirando el horizonte. No en vano, el Hubble son los "ojos de la humanidad" Albert Pla, Planetarium Specialist for Museo Marítimo de Barcelona (Gracias Albert! El S.t.H.)

S.t.H. translates:

"Hubble is an example of the human effort in searching, finding and asking who we are and where we live. Something so evident needs a international effort to continue looking at the horizon. Not in vain, Hubble is the "Eyes of humanity". Albert Pla, Planetarium Specialist for Museo Marítimo de Barcelona (Thank you Albert! S.t.H.)

 

Save the Hubble (highly technical) Answer of the Day:

"Changing the inclination of the orbit is very difficult. For the shuttle to move from HST to the ISS requires changing the inclination by 23 degrees (28.5 to 51.5). Both Hubble and ISS are moving at velocities of ~8km/s. Using simple trigonometry the change in velocity needed to accomplish this maneuver is 3.2km/s. Since the exhaust velocity of the shuttle is 4.5km/s, using the standard rocket equation: Mass of rocket + fuel / Mass of rocket = exp(change in velocity/exhaust velocity) then the mass of the fuel would have to equal the mass of the shuttle. Since it has already dropped of the external fuel tank on the way to orbit it is simply not capable of doing this maneuver." Nick Cross.(Well, that's definitely rocket science! Thank you Nick, S.t.H.)

 

Save the Hubble Reason Not to of the Day:

" The Hubble Telescope had a purpose, which has now been fulfilled. It's mission was to discover more about our universe and it's beginnings. As you are probably aware, new missions are continually being created which will further our understanding of the universe. If you were into formula 1 racing, would you bother keeping an old car from the 80's that is going to end up killing someone, or use the newer, faster and safer cars. It's the same with the Hubble telescope, it's getting old, and newer techonlogies will be able to see further into space than Hubble ever will. Stop clinging to a piece of space junk and look to the future - evolve and adapt." Thomas Bowler ("space junk"? Oh, please! S.t.H)

 

Save the Hubble Anti-Democratic Message of the Day:

" I was going to offer links to your site on our group's club site, and star party site. But I will decline until the malicious quote about President Bush is removed. I will instead offer links to another site." Wig (We at SavetheHubble.com strongly support free speech and civil liberties. The right to speak freely has been asserted by the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the American Constitution in 1791. We at SavetheHubble.com will grant free access to our Save the Hubble Message of the Day board to any message that contains opinions expressed in a manner to us considered to be within the limits of respectfulness. President Bush, as every human being, is not free from making mistakes and if someone thinks he is doing so, we believe he or she does have the right to say it, again, within the limits of respectfulness and civility. We at SavetheHubble.com do not consider what you call a malicious quote to be outside these limits. We do appreciate all support we can get but, under no circumstances, are going to trade it for our right to speak and let others speak freely. If your opinion changes in the future, we would be glad to have our site linked to your page. Thank you for your support! SavetheHubble.com.)

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