Two astronomers and a computer scientist have begun a letter writing
campaign to save the Hubble Space Telescope. The website,
http://savehubble.org hopes to demonstrate to President Bush and NASA
administrator Sean O’Keefe that the public supports the Hubble Space
Telescope and does not want it to end prematurely.
The website offers a letter and a form for supporters to send it to Bush
and O’Keefe. An additional section allows users to send a letter to
their local representatives as well. The Save Hubble Team will also be
polling members of congress for their position on Hubble and posting
their responses.
The Save Hubble Team does believes there is sufficient evidence that
sending a shuttle to service Hubble is not the safety risk that NASA
Administrator Sean O’Keefe claims. Two unidentified NASA engineers
published white papers addressing this issue and concluded that such a
mission was even safer than a mission to the ISS.
The premature end of Hubble is more likely the result of President
Bush’s new space plan. However, Hubble is considered a national
treasure, and the Save Hubble Team believes that the public will not
embrace such a plan if it does not include one of the most popular of
all space missions.
The Save Hubble Team believes that if enough letters to to Bush and
O’Keefe, NASA will proceed with the shuttle servicing mission using the
shuttle or some other means.
Kathy Miles is an astronomer/author who writes astronomy and science
articles. Chuck Peters is an IT manager. Fred Peters is a retired
NASA/JPL astronomer who worked on such missions as Voyager and Pioneer.
