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Eyeing a post-Hubble Universe
Washington, Aug 02: Not since Galileo turned his telescope towards the heavens in 1610 has any event so changed our understanding of the Universe as the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Washington, Aug 02: Not since Galileo turned his telescope towards the heavens in 1610 has any event so changed our understanding of the Universe as the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope."
So says Nasa`s official introduction to the Hubble, but officials at the US space agency are now planning its demise and that is upsetting many scientists.
The facts are straightforward. Launched in 1990, the telescope was always destined to have a limited life. Planning is well under way for a new space telescope - the James Webb - to launch in 2011 and the Hubble mission is slated to end by 2010.
But it need not be that way, argue Hubble`s supporters. Such are the passions surrounding the subject that Nasa has chartered a panel of experts to determine the best way to manage the transition.
The panel has already received hundreds of e-mails offering suggestions and raising concerns about the changes.
Edward Cheng, who worked as a development scientist on the Hubble programme, told BBC News Online that there were simple reasons why many astronomers felt so strongly. "They don`t know a world without Hubble," he said. Such is the volume of data that the telescope has been able to gather, that scientists` first reaction now when faced with an idea or question is always "What can Hubble tell us?", he explained.
Of course Hubble was not always such a font of information. Soon after its launch an aberration was discovered on the crucial primary mirror. It was three years before corrective optics were designed, made and installed.
But the years since then have made all the difference, according to Sir Martin Rees of Cambridge University, who is England`s Astronomer Royal and a member of the transition panel.
"There`s no doubt it has been a flagship programme for Nasa for more than the last decade," he told BBC News Online.
And the data which has kept scientists so busy has also - in refined form - caught the imagination of the public with clues to the "big questions" like the origin of the Universe.
"Nasa has an awareness that the big questions are the questions which are not only of great scientific importance but they are also the ones the public is interested in," Sir Martin said.
Bureau Report
The facts are straightforward. Launched in 1990, the telescope was always destined to have a limited life. Planning is well under way for a new space telescope - the James Webb - to launch in 2011 and the Hubble mission is slated to end by 2010.
But it need not be that way, argue Hubble`s supporters. Such are the passions surrounding the subject that Nasa has chartered a panel of experts to determine the best way to manage the transition.
The panel has already received hundreds of e-mails offering suggestions and raising concerns about the changes.
Edward Cheng, who worked as a development scientist on the Hubble programme, told BBC News Online that there were simple reasons why many astronomers felt so strongly. "They don`t know a world without Hubble," he said. Such is the volume of data that the telescope has been able to gather, that scientists` first reaction now when faced with an idea or question is always "What can Hubble tell us?", he explained.
Of course Hubble was not always such a font of information. Soon after its launch an aberration was discovered on the crucial primary mirror. It was three years before corrective optics were designed, made and installed.
But the years since then have made all the difference, according to Sir Martin Rees of Cambridge University, who is England`s Astronomer Royal and a member of the transition panel.
"There`s no doubt it has been a flagship programme for Nasa for more than the last decade," he told BBC News Online.
And the data which has kept scientists so busy has also - in refined form - caught the imagination of the public with clues to the "big questions" like the origin of the Universe.
"Nasa has an awareness that the big questions are the questions which are not only of great scientific importance but they are also the ones the public is interested in," Sir Martin said.
Bureau Report