A Not-so-final Servicing Mission

摘要

The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the greatest tools ever designed for science. It has studied questions far beyond the reach of any other instrument. With its three deep field exposures alone, it has seen farther at more wavelengths than any ground-based telescope, and it revolutionized our understanding of the early universe. For decades, some scientists have predicted that adaptive optics would "soon" render it obsolete. Hubble has proved them wrong every time. Twenty-five years after launch, the queue of scientists hoping for a shot of Hubble telescope time extends around the proverbial block. Those at the end of the line may be disappointed. The final Hubble servicing mission was launched in May 2009 and, absent the space shuttle, we are told Hubble cannot be repaired again.