Contudo, hoje a NASA anunciou a notícia de que a agência repensou esta questão e vai sim providenciar mais uma missão de manutenção ao Hubble, extendendo sua vida útil até o início das operações do James Webb.
Hubble Saved: NASA Approves Shuttle Flight to Service Space Telescope
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 31 October 2006
10:09 a.m ET
The decision is in and the Hubble Space Telescope is saved.
NASA announced Tuesday that it will go ahead with one final space shuttle mission to repair and upgrade Hubble after months of debate over the risks of such an endeavor.
In the end, the decision came down to NASA chief Michael Griffin, who has long said that he would support a proposed Hubble servicing mission provided its risk did not exceed that already accepted for other shuttle flights. The mission will add years onto the Hubble’s lifetime and could help NASA prepare the space telescope for its ultimate, but controlled, plunge through the Earth’s atmosphere.
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Excelente notícia, sem a menor sombra de dúvida. Mais uma peça do programa espacial o qual realmente dá para se tirar o máximo de "bang" pelo "buck" gasto nele -- e que vale a pena.