Hubble Space Telescope

Ralph Vanderlipp, an electrical engineer whose work spanned the eras from World War II to the space age and into the computer age, died Nov. 3 of leukemia at Gilchrest Hospice Care in Towson. The long-time Columbia resident was 83. From serving as an electronics and radar technician on a cargo ship during the waning days of World War II to helping interpret data from the Hubble Space telescope, Mr. Vanderlipp spent decades on the cutting edge of electronics technology. "If you were to look up 'electrical engineer' in the dictionary, you would see his picture," said Bill Anderson, who was a young aerospace engineer working under contract for Lockheed-Martin when he first met Mr. Vanderlipp and considered him a mentor.

Ralph Vanderlipp, an electrical engineer whose work spanned the eras from World War II to the space age and into the computer age, died Nov. 3 of leukemia at Gilchrest Hospice Care in Towson. The long-time Columbia resident was 83. From serving as an electronics and radar technician on a cargo ship during the waning days of World War II to helping interpret data from the Hubble Space telescope, Mr. Vanderlipp spent decades on the cutting edge of electronics technology. "If you were to look up 'electrical engineer' in the dictionary, you would see his picture," said Bill Anderson, who was a young aerospace engineer working under contract for Lockheed-Martin when he first met Mr. Vanderlipp and considered him a mentor.

Happy anniversary to the Hubble Space Telescope , launched 20 years ago today. Since a start-up marred by a flawed mirror, Hubble scientists and engineers have overcome every challenge the telescope tossed them, making Hubble arguably the best-known, most-productive engine of scientific discovery in history. The final upgrades made by spacewalking astronauts last May have left the telescope better equipped than ever to advance our understanding of the universe during the observatory's final years.

Happy anniversary to the Hubble Space Telescope , launched 20 years ago today. Since a start-up marred by a flawed mirror, Hubble scientists and engineers have overcome every challenge the telescope tossed them, making Hubble arguably the best-known, most-productive engine of scientific discovery in history. The final upgrades made by spacewalking astronauts last May have left the telescope better equipped than ever to advance our understanding of the universe during the observatory's final years.

Astronomers around the world got their first close-up look at the Hubble Space Telescope in seven years Wednesday as astronauts aboard the shuttle Atlantis closed in and captured the orbiting observatory for its final round of repairs and upgrades. "When we first had images of the Hubble Space Telescope, there were audible gasps of elation. This was truly a wonderful sight after seven years," said Jon Morse, NASA's director of astrophysics. Mission specialist Megan McArthur grabbed the 12-ton telescope with the shuttle's robot arm at 1:14 p.m. while orbiting 350 miles above western Australia.

Tours of the Hubble Space Telescope control center, model rocket launches, talks by NASA experts and explanations of solar flares will be on tap today when the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt opens to the public for the first time since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Visitors will see Hubble's dimly lit control center, where scientists control the cameras used to capture the images of galaxies that enliven classroom walls around the country. The tour stops will include views of the 90-foot-high "clean room," with its dust-free environment for testing Hubble equipment; a life-size model of the Columbia space shuttle; the cumbersome space gloves worn by astronauts during Hubble servicing missions and a centrifuge where the durability of satellites is tested.

WASHINGTON - The House overwhelmingly endorsed President Bush's plans to go to the moon and Mars but put its own imprint on the future of NASA yesterday, insisting that the space agency also concentrate on research programs and repairing the Hubble telescope. The Hubble, along with science programs and aeronautics research, is popular in Congress partly because the contracts generate thousands of jobs, injecting millions into the economies of many lawmakers' districts. The first blueprint for NASA's future in five years passed 383-15.

THE REASON for NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe's refusal to send astronauts into space to retrofit the Hubble Space Telescope can be summed up in two words: too risky. But a new report by a panel of experts has undercut his argument, finding that a manned repair mission is only slightly more risky than planned flights to the International Space Station. The panel also raised significant doubts that an unmanned robotics mission could do the job. Fixing Hubble so it can continue to inform and enhance our knowledge of stars, planets and deep space is the objective here, and Mr. O'Keefe should put his money on astronauts, not machines.

If all goes well, the Space Shuttle Columbia will be in orbit again tomorrow.Think of it: A boxy, stubby-winged, tempermental craft that weighs 181,000 pounds, in service since 1981. You might think twice before driving cross-country in a 1981 car. Columbia has logged 77.5 million miles during its previous 20 flights, has orbited the earth 2,944 times and is booked for use through 2002.Columbia and its three sibling shuttles are best known for their distinctive shape and for the program's low-point the shuttle Challenger exploding Jan. 28, 1986 in a fireball caused by a leak in one of its solid-fuel rocket boosters.

A workhorse deep space camera on the Hubble Space Telescope has shut down for the third time in less than a year, and NASA scientists say that only a fraction of its capability will be restored. The $86 million Advanced Camera for Surveys was near the end of its expected lifespan, officials said. Many of its functions will be assumed by new equipment scheduled to be installed during a space shuttle servicing mission in 2008. The ACS went dark and the entire orbiting observatory entered a protective "safe mode" Saturday about 7:30 a.m., when a backup power supply system failed.

T HE SEARCH WILL CONTINUE In recent days, some of those criticizing NASA's proposed budget have tried to paint a picture of an agency without a vision. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. NASA's far-reaching ambitions in space science have been, and will continue to be, truly inspiring. Just a few decades ago, cynical scientists used to say that there are only two facts known with certainty about the cosmos at large: that the sky is dark at night, and that our universe is expanding.

WASHINGTON - -Gov. Martin O'Malley has tapped a new state advisory board to help Maryland residents find jobs with the nation's largest employer - the federal government. The 16-member Federal Facilities Advisory Board, which O'Malley announced this week, will work with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development to examine how federal facilities in the state can boost Maryland employment numbers. Chairman Kevin F. Kelly of McLean, Va., said the board's goal "is to go out and listen to people and find out from them what they need."

With a flourish of new images - from exploding stars to colliding galaxies and a new impact scar on Jupiter - NASA officials finally pulled the wraps off the newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope on Wednesday, almost four months after astronauts completed a final round of repairs and upgrades. "Hubble is back in action," said Heidi Hammel, senior research scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.. "You're only getting the tiniest taste of what astronomers are planning to do with Hubble over the many years it's going to last."

Astronomers around the world got their first close-up look at the Hubble Space Telescope in seven years Wednesday as astronauts aboard the shuttle Atlantis closed in and captured the orbiting observatory for its final round of repairs and upgrades. "When we first had images of the Hubble Space Telescope, there were audible gasps of elation. This was truly a wonderful sight after seven years," said Jon Morse, NASA's director of astrophysics. Mission specialist Megan McArthur grabbed the 12-ton telescope with the shuttle's robot arm at 1:14 p.m. while orbiting 350 miles above western Australia.

Syrian president orders an embassy in Lebanon Beirut, Lebanon : The president of Syria ordered his government yesterday to establish formal diplomatic relations with Lebanon, a move that could pave the way for normalizing decades of tangled ties between the two countries. President Bashar Assad issued a decree calling for the establishment of Syria's first-ever diplomatic mission in Lebanon, a small mountainous country carved out of the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire and long dominated by its larger neighbor.