Space Telescope Repaired

[Higgins]

Looks good. Just a minor suggestion of progress in a world mired in other stuff. I guess it is still under repair.
5 repair operations altogether.


http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre54e2k0-us-space-shuttle-repost/

[Zoombie]

Ah cool!

[Albedo]

I hope they bring Hubble home, and don't just let it burn up at the end of its life. If I was a zillionaire I'd fund the shuttle mission myself.

[Medievalist]

The "old" camera and gyros are going to be reused elsewhere though, which is cool.

It's six spacewalks altogether; so I'm watching the live video feeds and thinking good thoughts.

[benbradley]

Now HERE are a neat set of pics, just found on Slashdot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/3531350583/in/set-72157617823159021/

[benbradley]

I hope they bring Hubble home, and don't just let it burn up at the end of its life. If I was a zillionaire I'd fund the shuttle mission myself.
Yea, it would take a zillion dollars, but I think longterm it would be more valuable if they could keep it in orbit. It costs a large fortune to put something into space, so it seems such a shame when I hear about a satellite being "deorbited." MAYBE if they planned to put up something else in the same orbit as the Hubble, they could bring it down in the Shuttle, but I'm sure that won't happen - there aren't that many Shuttle missions left, and they're all for adding on to (or "completing") the ISS. And of course the newly-refurbished Hubble is expected to last many years past the last planned Shuttle mission.

Iridium is an array of satellites put up ten years ago to offer worldwide phone service without having to be close (within a few miles or whatever the max distance is) to a cell tower. Calls cost a lot compared to cellphone service even ten years ago when the system was started, but it's pretty much a neccesity for those in remote locations or for emergency use.

It cost billions of dollars to make and send up the dozens of satellites needed to make the system work. The business went bankrupt within a year, and they (whoever "they" are) considered "deorbiting" ALL those satellites! But the system was bought at a bargain yard-sale price of $25 million and still exists today:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_Satellite_LLC

[Medievalist]

Iridium is an array of satellites put up ten years ago to offer worldwide phone service without having to be close (within a few miles or whatever the max distance is) to a cell tower. Calls cost a lot compared to cellphone service even ten years ago when the system was started, but it's pretty much a neccesity for those in remote locations or for emergency use.

It cost billions of dollars to make and send up the dozens of satellites needed to make the system work. The business went bankrupt within a year, and they (whoever "they" are) considered "deorbiting" ALL those satellites! But the system was bought at a bargain yard-sale price of $25 million and still exists today:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_Satellite_LLC

It was mostly Motorola, and just about killed the stock price, and long term value.