Hubble Is Free Again...

So, Hubble is free again. And alone up there.

I read the goodbyes were emotional and of course I FORGOT to watch it live on NASA tv because I was at work.

It's hard not to think of Hubble as something alive. I really have always thought it more as a friend, or more like a pet.

There will be no more repair missions to Hubble. No one will ever give it a hug. :(

Sometime after 2020, NASA will send a robotic spaceship to steer Hubble back into the atmosphere and if not burned, it will be sunk into a watery grave in the Pacific ocean. In the mean time, let's enjoy all the information it brings us and for today, you can check HubbleSite.

Long live Hubble, may your solar panels and gadgets work for many years to come.. May all the nasty bits and pieces of space go round you and let you show us more of this space we call our home!

Tune of the moment: Haley Westenra - Prayer
Let your arms enfold us
Through the dark of night
Will your angels hold us
Till we see the light

It's Over

Finally.

My Bachelor's Thesis is done. Eightysomething pages, full of crap of course.

A nice surprise form school:

If I graduate, I will have at least 260 credits. 210 is required to graduate.

Having this extra year isn't such a bad thing in the end. I thought I had too little, but I have a year and a half worth of extra studies. I'm not such a loser as I thought.

I've been watching NASA TV, following live feed from the Hubble servicing mission. I was glad to read the comments, because they show a tremenodus love for Hubble and assure that people approve the use of money for this mission. I'm glad I'm not the only silly one on this Earth.

I wonder how it feels like to wake up, look out of the window and see Earth. From up there the view would probably leave anyone speechless. Is the sea still blue from up there? Is there as much green as the pictures show?

More Hubble & Some Heavenly Creatures

NASA just launched a site for the mission to repair Hubble. Go see it.

"..And we’ll also be installing a soft capture mechanism on the bulk head of Hubble that will help facilitate a future mission to Hubble, primarily for the purpose of de-orbiting it at the end of its useful life.."

I cried. :(

My zebra finch babies are growing so fast. They started taking longer flights yesterday. I felt so bad because I suddenly realized they deserve to be free. They will never feel the wind beneath their wings, never perch on a tree enjoying sunlight. I know they wouldn't survive in the wild if I managed to get them to Australia but I would like them to be go there.

For a light ending I present a medieval bog:

Good Luck, Atlantis! Happy Birthday Hubble!

The shuttle 'Atlantis' is soon launching to a dangerous mission.

The mission? Repair Hubble.

The ones who have been reading my ramblings might remember that I feel very deeply for Hubble. I love the pictures it has taken, I love the idea that it has brought so much information from the surroundings of this planet, so I love Hubble. I was devastated after the first reports of its possible shutdown. I'm glad they decided to repair it instead of just abandon it or whats worse: burn it.

I hope the mission is a success and that everyone will return home safe.

So, thanks NASA!

Oh, and yesterday was Hubbles' 19th Birthday!

Oh, and as a sidenote: I heard Stephen Hawking has been hospitalized. Hope he still has the strength to keep living and fighting ALS.

"I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image."

Bring Hubble Down When It's Old

Dear NASA,

When Hubble's work will finish, please bring it down. Put it to a museum for display. It would be more than cruel to let it burn or what's worse: leave it up there.

Congrats Hubble!

A Late Happy Birthday to Hubble. May your 17-years of life extend to many more!

Hubble precisely measured the age of the universe. It found evidence of dark energy. It brought you images of distant galaxies in the young universe. And now, with Servicing Mission 4 (SM4), the Hubble Space Telescope will look onto the universe with new eyes, surpassing even its previous vision.

"Hubble was designed to be repaired and upgraded by astronauts, and these servicing missions have occurred several times since Hubble’s launch in 1990. SM4 has an ambitious program of activities. Over a series of five spacewalks, astronauts will replace worn-out telescope components, installing new batteries, new gyroscopes, a refurbished Fine Guidance Sensor, replacement thermal blankets, and more. It will significantly enhance Hubble's prowess with the installation of two new science instruments: the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. These upgrades will keep Hubble functioning at the pinnacle of astronomy well into the next decade. "

Hubble celebrated with a wonderful picture of a place where stars are born (not L.A. you goofs)

Thank you, NASA!

Apparently someone there has brains AND heart!

The pic is courtesy of NASA of course and I did not ask for a permission to post it here.

Hubble Stays Alive!

YES! YES!

On 31st October NASA announced plans for a fifth servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Shuttle astronauts will visit the telescope to extend and improve the observatory's capabilities through 2013.

Excellent!

For Hubble: Mogwai - Auto Rock

SAVE HUBBLE!

It has brought us images and information we'd otherwise wait for gods-know-how-long. It has made scientists' life easier for a very long time now and they are just letting it slowly die alone up there. No fixing flight because of a bunch of idiots who sob after people who voluntarely left the ground, knowing they might die. I have had almost a similar talk about the soldiers sent to Irak (they also knew that choosing military career would possibly take them to war).

Hubble was launched in 1990. Its original mission was supposed to last 15 years but the serving time was extended to last 20 years, with a projected end date of 2010. With the cancellation of Servicing Mission 4, Hubble will probably not last that long. The cancellation reason was the Columbia accident.

Scientists and engineers are looking at ways to stretch Hubble's life out as long as possible. Hubble has six gyroscopes. Two are broken and would have been replaced on Servicing Mission 4. Three are working and used every day. One is on standby as a backup gyroscope since 2005, if I remember correctly. The batteries Hubble uses lose their charge more quickly as they get older and eventually the batteries are unable to hold a charge and poor old Hubble becomes inoperable. Hubble will continue to orbit the Earth until they figure out how to safely de-orbit it. Hubble will fall to Earth and crash into the ocean. Thanks for that too, though I love Hubble, I'd appreciate less crap in the ocean.

They are planning to replace Hubble with the James Webb Space Telescope which would be launched in 2013 or 2014. I know JWST's mirror would be six times the one in Hubble, but Hubble is like a grand-dad for me, providing the means for the future. It's a shame it's just going to get dropped down because it's getting old.

If Hubble was designed to fit for instance, Russian equipment, I bet they'd already fixed it because they don't sob-sob-yadi-yada over a few dead people (who again, knew the risks on flight).

And the other poor thingies.. Voyagers are still going out there. I can only imagine what they get to see and experience. I wish I was there with them, just to keep them company :´) I'm glad they're still listened. I know I'm talking silly things, but I just can't stop. If you'd like to have a little moment with these thoughts, go to the Chronology of Space Exploration.

I'm sad I won't be here in 2100 to see what has been found.