As I said, and I tend to believe him, during the tour, the tour guide mentioned that one of the other major reasons is Columbia. After Columbia, NASA wanted to make sure that EVERY Shuttle going up could dock with the International Space Station. The reasoning is obvious, given Columbia. In case something should happen up there, they actually have a chance to get the astronauts down alive.
Unfortunately, though, Hubble and the ISS are in different orbits and I guess the Space Shuttle doesn't have the fuel to fly to both Hubble and the ISS and still make it back to Earth, so it's one reason or the other.
I believe this reasoning. I'm sure there is some of what you said too, and some of what Kristen mentioned, continuing to fix the Hubble time and time again IS expensive and NASA, with it's short budget, DOES Have to pick and choose.
I'll look at the article when I can.
Believe it or not, I don't believe America is going to become a 2nd world nation. Yes, it is very.. disappointing to know that the religious right are everpresent, rather prevalent and have the president's ear.. but everything goes in cycles. Eventually, the cycle will move away from the current regime and the religious right will lose their grip on America. The religious right is smart.. and very good at what they do, but they're still a minority of the population.
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As I said, and I tend to believe him, during the tour, the tour guide mentioned that one of the other major reasons is Columbia. After Columbia, NASA wanted to make sure that EVERY Shuttle going up could dock with the International Space Station. The reasoning is obvious, given Columbia. In case something should happen up there, they actually have a chance to get the astronauts down alive.
Unfortunately, though, Hubble and the ISS are in different orbits and I guess the Space Shuttle doesn't have the fuel to fly to both Hubble and the ISS and still make it back to Earth, so it's one reason or the other.
I believe this reasoning. I'm sure there is some of what you said too, and some of what Kristen mentioned, continuing to fix the Hubble time and time again IS expensive and NASA, with it's short budget, DOES Have to pick and choose.
I'll look at the article when I can.
Believe it or not, I don't believe America is going to become a 2nd world nation. Yes, it is very.. disappointing to know that the religious right are everpresent, rather prevalent and have the president's ear.. but everything goes in cycles.
Eventually, the cycle will move away from the current regime and the religious right will lose their grip on America. The religious right is smart.. and very good at what they do, but they're still a minority of the population.