Instead of fixing or abandoning the Hubble Space Telescope, a group of astronomers and rocket scientists have come up with a third, better option: replace it using the HST’s spare parts.
The Hubble Origins Project seeks to use spare parts from the Hubble and the original design, plus the new scientific instruments that were built for the servicing mission, and put up a new Hubble for less than $700M – $1B. This represents a safer, cheaper option than repair. Plus, you get a telescope that doesn’t have spherical abration and that has 21st century computers, rather than 20-year old computers from the 1980s.
You can go to the website and download the full briefing that the House Science Committee received on February 2nd. I went through it all and it is very convicning. This makes much, much more sense than the alternatives.
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