So what's the big deal? The mission wasn't planned to fly until 2006 and they said it could fail tomorrow. Would you rather see a moonbase and several telescopes on it's surface or even manufactured there and sent into libration orbits? If we can find a low cost launcher then the odds will be high that more science telescopes will end up in orbit even sooner. Let's examine our priorities here. Maybe some of you astronomers want a steady paycheck and this may ruin that. I sympathize. But I would rather postpone or cancel a mission with the hope of doing something even better a little later. The Deep Field, the new Ultra Deep Field, and the future Super Ultra-Mega Whammy Really, Really Deep Field will not help us get humans into space in a big way. Have patience. If you can wait 80 days to make an exposure, you can wait a few years to get a new camera.

I've written about the Starving Children excuse to avoid space exploration... I never thought I'd see it turn into a Starving Astronomer excuse.

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"Oh no no no I'm a rocket man Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone." -- Sir Elton John

J Pax