NASA needs the Hubble

Sometimes I think that NASA should remake their logo to show some piece of machinery burning up in an extraterrestrial atmosphere somewhere. Or maybe just a giant bundle of money burning up in the atmosphere. At the very least, they should depict an astronaut shooting himself in the foot.

Today, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will be evaluating whether or not it should repair the Hubble Space Telescope, an orbiting telescope that has captured the imagination of millions of people and is arguably one of the greatest astronomical tools ever created. If the repairs are not completed by the end of 2008, the Hubble will cease to function around 2010.

Right now, the biggest things keeping such a mission from flying are safety concerns. If a repair is attempted on the Hubble and the shuttle is stricken with problem that makes a landing dangerous, the shuttle will be unable to reach the refuge of the International Space Station. In the words of astronaut Joe Tanner, “That’s a real comfort to know that if you have a problem, you have a place to hang out.”

I agree that safety is paramount when traveling into space, but I also strongly believe that it is in NASA’s best interests to keep the Hubble functioning and that they should do everything in their power to make it happen. The future of NASA could very well depend on it.

NASA has been unable to ensnare the imaginations of America since the Apollo missions and the race to land on the moon. The early space program had everything going for it: the thrill and risk of exploring uncharted territory, a fascination with making science fiction a reality, and a dramatic showdown with the communists of the Soviet Union.

However, the Soviet Union fell and shuttle program was instituted, making space travel routine. Since then, it seems NASA has been unable to rekindle America’s interest in space exploration.

The closest NASA has come to relighting this flame of interest was after the installation of the Hubble Space Telescope. Immediately, the spectacular pictures the telescope began to send back of distant stars, nebulae, and galaxies began to spark the imagination and interest of those who saw them. Hubble began to unlock the secrets of the universe in a way that hadn’t been reproduced since the Apollo missions, and the American people felt like they were exploring space again.

Right now, almost all of NASA’s shuttle and astronaut assets are pouring into the construction and operation of the International Space Station, a project that has had the opposite effect on American minds. Few people know anything about the existence of the space station, much less its purpose or current disposition. However, NASA continues to hammer away at making the space station work while the public remains apathetic about what amounts to a space shuttle squared.

The Hubble has also proven to be invaluable to astronomers as well. According to the Associated Press, throughout its history the telescope has enabled astronomers to observe the universe as it was 12 billion years ago, provided measurements that helped establish the size and age of the universe, and offered evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, in addition to taking pictures of distant objects that would be impossible to produce from the Earth’s surface.

The Hubble’s value is not only in its formidable contributions to the astronomical community, but also in its ability to get the public interested in space again. In an age where tax cuts and balancing the budget are the name of the political game, NASA needs widespread public support in order to hold on to funding that could otherwise be used on programs that would have a more palpable effect on the average citizen. Hopefully, NASA will not have to choose between what is good for public relations and what is safe, but if they must, they had better start thinking of new ways to fill the daunting hole that the Hubble left.