NASA will revisit its decision to abandon the Hubble Space Telescope, Michael Griffin, the nominee to lead the US space agency, has told Congress in a confirmation hearing.
Current NASA chief Sean O’Keefe had decided to drop maintenance of the telescope citing potential risks such a mission could entail for astronauts. His decision was made in the aftermath of the Columbia space shuttle accident that killed seven astronauts.
But Griffin said Tuesday that if confirmed to lead the US space agency the Hubble decision would get a fresh look in light of resumed space flights expected from May 15.
“We should revisit the earlier decision in light of what we learn after return to flight,” Griffin told the Senate Commerce committee Tuesday.
The decision to call off maintenance sparked concern from some in the scientific community and some lawmakers. A mission using robots was considered but then dropped as too complicated to get off the ground.
Since it entered into service in 1990, Hubble has established the age of the Milky Way galaxy, helped gather evidence to support the Big Bang theory and provided the first convincing proof by an optical telescope of the existence of black holes.
Astronauts have serviced Hubble four times, and many scientists hoped that a fifth service mission would be funded to enable Hubble to function to 2011.
Currently, it is believed that Hubble’s aging solar cells will provide enough energy to survive to 2007.
With a maintenance mission Hubble could operate until 2010 before its infrared replacement the James Webb telescope goes into orbit.
“I do not believe we would wish to see a situation in which the United States is dependent on any partner for human access to space,” Griffin said.
If the current scenario remains unchanged the United States would depend on Russia to get to the International Space Station between 2010-2015.
