The race to save Hubble: Preserving the mission and critical science
ASU astrophysicist says that after saving the Swift satellite, NASA needs to rescue Hubble
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) floats gracefully above the blue Earth in December 1999 at the conclusion of HST servicing mission 3A. Hubble's release moments earlier by the Space Shuttle Discovery’s robotic arm marked the fourth time that a space shuttle had sent the great observatory into space. Those occasions were the telescope's initial release in 1990 and three subsequent servicing missions, including this one, shuttle mission STS-103. Image courtesy of NASA
As NASA considers the future of the Hubble Space Telescope, Rogier Windhorst, Regents and Foundation Professor at Arizona State University, explains in an article with Nature why extending Hubble's mission is vital to the future of astronomy.
Windhorst discusses how preserving Hubble's unique ultraviolet and visible-light capabilities for another 10 to 15 years would complement the James Webb Space Telescope, maximize decades of scientific investment, and continue groundbreaking discoveries about the universe.
Read the full Nature article here.