Space Telescope

NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin's decision yesterday to approve a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope has the potential to expand and extend the observatory's reach into the universe. But that's not the only reason to applaud. It's a nod toward the importance of generating science and advancing projects with that aim, especially when traveling to Mars has become the latest fascination in Washington. Hubble may have popularized astronomy with its stunning array of images from space.

GREENBELT -- Now that NASA has the green light to launch astronauts on one final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists and engineers in Baltimore, Greenbelt and elsewhere will have just 18 months to perfect their plan for pulling it off. A critical part of that plan will be preparing a rescue shuttle to be fueled and poised on a second launch pad, ready to fly if the Hubble repair crew is stranded in orbit. Although all flights will continue to be risky for their crews, "the space shuttle can be flown safely if we are very careful.

The future of the Hubble Space Telescope hangs in the balance today in Washington as top NASA managers weigh the feasibility and risks of sending shuttle astronauts on a fifth and final servicing mission to the observatory. Michael Griffin, the agency administrator, is scheduled to announce Tuesday at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt whether he'll order the mission. "There is talk about very little else at the moment. Everybody wants to know what's happening," said Matt Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which manages Hubble science.

When the Hubble Space Telescope snapped the first pictures of the surface of Pluto, it captured the elusive planet's icy veneer and summer shroud, which one scientist likened to the bright snows of Colorado. And although Pluto didn't have the sexiness of Venus or the panache of Mars, the photographs of a decade ago provided scientists with the first detailed views of the faraway planet since its discovery in 1930. "It's fantastic," gushed astronomer Marc W. Buie back then. Fast forward to 2006.

How quickly is the universe expanding? A group led by an astrophysicist at the Johns Hopkins University plans to design a telescope to answer that question. Charles L. Bennett's team will spend a $1.5 million federal grant during the next two years designing an infrared space telescope capable of conducting the largest survey yet of the universe. The Advanced Dark Energy Physics Telescope would measure light from distant galaxies as a way to study dark energy - the mysterious force that is pushing galaxies away from each other and speeding up the expansion of the universe.

Already $1 billion over budget and two years behind schedule, NASA's $4.5 billion James Webb Space Telescope has taken yet another shot from the Government Accountability Office. The congressional watchdog agency said last week that managers of the Maryland-based project have moved forward with development of the observatory before all its new technologies are ready, and without enough contingency funds to handle unexpected problems. Unless more money is set aside for contingencies, the report stated, "the program's ability to resolve issues, address program risks areas and accommodate unknown problems is very limited," and the planned 2013 launch date is "not viable."

Scientists and engineers in Baltimore and Greenbelt are troubleshooting an electrical failure that has blinded the Hubble Space Telescope's "workhorse" instrument - the Advanced Camera for Surveys. The ACS, which has provided spectacular images of distant galaxies and stellar nebulas since 2002, shut down Monday. Scientific observations have continued on three other instruments, according to Mattias Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. But "always, when a major instrument has problems like this ... people are suitably nervous and worried," he said.

WASHINGTON -- From cuts in money to restore the Chesapeake Bay to fewer dollars for biomedical research, Maryland would feel a pinch under the budget proposed yesterday by President Bush. While the budget sent to Congress does contain some bright spots - including $900 million for Amtrak and money for repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope - the state's lawmakers and advocates blasted suggested cuts in education, health programs and federal grants. Bush's $2.77 trillion budget also proposes the smallest raise for federal employees, at 2.2 percent, since 1988, union leaders said.

The engineering control center in Baltimore that keeps a 24-hour watch on the health of the Hubble Space Telescope will go dark this summer as NASA moves its work to Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. NASA said the transfer of the Hubble Flight Operations Team to Goddard will affect 17 Lockheed Martin contract employees who work at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. Preston M. Burch, Hubble program manager at Goddard, said the move was ordered to improve operational efficiency and tighten security in the wake of the Sept.

WASHINGTON -- NASA got what it wanted - and more - yesterday when the Senate approved a $16.5 billion annual spending plan for the space agency in an otherwise very tight budget year. The money will pay for the start-up of NASA's new moon-Mars venture, more space shuttle flights, a repair mission to the Hubble telescope and other programs. The spending plan for 2006, which passed 94-5, is a slight increase over the current budget. But the agency is looking at an expensive transition in the next few years as it tries to balance the cost of ending its shuttle program and International Space Station construction with the planned voyages to the moon and Mars.