WH plans to scuttle Hubble

Further demonstrating their animosity to science and learning, the Adminstration is proposing that rather than be serviced, the Hubble Space Telescope be 'safely de-orbited'.

Lofted into orbit on April 24, 1990, Hubble is doing some of its best science ever, astronomers say, because previous upgrades by spacewalking astronauts have made its suite of instruments ever more powerful. It has long outlived its initial mission scope.

There is no other telescope, currently operating or planned, on the ground or in space, that can see as far into the universe in visible light with Hubble's consistency, astronomers agree. The James Webb Telescope -- the closest thing to a Hubble replacement -- is planned for launch in the next decade. It will be an infrared observatory, however, and won't record visible light.

I guess they don't like the constant reminder that the earth is a sphere and goes around the sun. Watch for the 'spherical earth' theory to be banned in Kansas school system texts next.