Fans may save Hubble

THE clamour over a plan to abandon the Hubble Space Telescope and along with it, the most striking images of the universe ever seen has been so loud that NASA’s chief says the decision will be reviewed.

The pleas included letters from Senator Barbara Mikulski and a joint letter from all members of Congress from Maryland, where the orbiting platform’s operations are based.

Hubble’s fate has also become a cause for amateur and professional astronomers worldwide, and emails have poured in to the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which co-ordinates the use of Hubble’s instruments.

NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe said in a letter to Mikulski that Admiral Hal Gehman, chairman of the board that investigated the Columbia shuttle break-up last year, will review the (Hubble) matter.

O’Keefe had defended his decision earlier this month to cancel all space shuttle missions to the Hubble, which has revolutionised the study of astronomy with its striking images of the universe.

But the reaction from the Hubble’s fans was immediate and massive.