Star Points for March, 2005; by Curtis Roelle Can the Hubble Space Telescope be Saved? A previously scheduled space shuttle mission for servicing the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in earth orbit was canceled in the wake of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia two years ago. NASA has announced that for human safety reasons no HST repair missions will be performed. This has disappointed many astronomers and members of the public who have been using the images returned from HST for analysis and simple appreciation of nature's mysterious beauty. Efforts are underway to evaluate alternative plans for saving HST and thereby extend its useful lifetime. This month we look at the reasons behind the decision to abandon HST and its present end of life plan. In a later installment we will return to this topic looking at alternative ideas that could extend HST's life expectancy. Since its launch in 1990 HST has been visited three times by the space shuttle for service, upgrade, and repair. The fourth servicing mission had been scheduled for 2004 until the Columbia's loss led to the grounding of the shuttle fleet. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) was tasked with examining the loss of Columbia. The CAIB concluded that damage sustained by the Columbia during launch caused it to break up under the stress of reentry more than two weeks later. Based on recommendations made by the board NASA decided to cancel future HST servicing missions by the shuttle for safety reasons. However, the shuttle would still be used to for servicing and construction of the International Space Station (ISS) currently in earth orbit. If a future shuttle mission is damaged during launch on its way to the ISS its crew could seek "safe haven" there until repairs can be made or another shuttle can be prepared and sent to rescue them. However, the safe haven option is not be available to astronauts servicing the HST because it and the ISS are in different orbits and the shuttle cannot haul enough fuel to reach the safety of the ISS. The prognosis is that without further servicing missions the HST will continue functioning for the next several years. After that on board systems such as gyroscopes will fail and the telescope will become inoperable. Over time its orbit would decay and eventually HST will reenter the atmosphere coming down who knows where. Because of its size some HST parts would survive reentry posing a threat to people and property on the ground. NASA has a solution for this problem. It plans to launch a robotic mission, using an expendable launch vehicle instead of the space shuttle, that will attach a rocket motor to HST. When the telescope eventually fails and is no longer producing scientific data the retro rocket will force the orbiting telescope to safely plunge into an uninhabited region such as the Pacific Ocean. Astronomers and engineers have been scratching their heads to come up with alternative plans. Even politicians are throwing their hats into the ring. In May we'll discuss one of the possible alternative plans from an engineering perspective. On the local astronomy scene the Westminster Astronomical Society will host a public star party with telescopic observing at the Bear Branch Nature Center (BBNC) on Friday, March 18 starting at 7:30 p.m., weather permitting. Also, a program will be presented in the planetarium rain or shine at 7:30 p.m. and repeated at 08:30. The public star party is free and no pre-registration is required. The park does charge a nominal fee ($2 for BBNC members and $1 for non-members) for the planetarium shows and encourages pre- registration by calling the nature center at 410-848-2517. Directions are available on the web at http://www.westminsterastro.org/bearbranch.htm .