Dec 8 2004
From The Space Library
The National Research Council (NRC) issued a report outlining recommendations for servicing the HST. The issue of servicing the HST had initiated a public discussion in January 2004, when NASA had decided to cancel a Shuttle mission to service the HST because of concern for astronaut safety. The debate had erupted again after April 2004, when NASA had announced that it would conduct an unpiloted servicing mission for the HST. In response to criticism for those decisions, NASA had requested that the NRC evaluate servicing options for the HST. The NRC recommended that NASA service the HST using a piloted Shuttle mission, because a robotic mission would be too complex for NASA to complete before 2007, when NASA anticipated that the HST's machinery would wear out. According to the guidelines recommended by the CAIB, astronauts would be able to service the HST by 2007. The NRC also reported that, if NASA carefully planned and conducted the piloted Shuttle mission, the mission would be far more likely to extend the telescope's operational life at a relatively lower cost. (Guy Gugliotta, “Astronauts Acceptable, Panel Says,” Washington Post, 9 December 2004; National Research Council, Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope: Final Report (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2005).
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