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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (36552)	1/29/2004 12:26:37 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Public less than happy with the new Cheney-Halliburton design for NASA. Hubble, the Beloved Decision to Stop Maintenance of Telescope Generates Outpouring Although NASA has decided to discontinue space shuttle missions to service the Hubble Space Telescope, concerned citizens from across the nation are not giving up the "eye" in space without a fight. "The overwhelming amount of general public comment we've gotten is just sort of shock," said Bruce Margon, associate director for science at the Space Telescope Science Institute. The institute works under contract with NASA to operate the Hubble. "If it's working," people ask, "how can you possibly shut it off? I have to say I don't have an answer to that," Margon said. There has been an "incredible outpouring of concern" from the scientific community and the public, he said. Concerned citizens are suggesting ways to remedy the problem. "It's extremely difficult to think about alternate ways to accomplish these chores," Margon said. "But not impossible." The Hubble, orbiting more than 350 miles above the Earth, has excited scientists and captured the imagination of the public with its spectacular photographs of galaxies and other space denizens, helping scientists refine the birth date of the universe and confirm the existence of black holes. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe announced Jan. 16 that the nation's space agency is canceling plans to send the space shuttle to perform maintenance on the aging telescope -- it was deployed via the cargo bay of a space shuttle in 1990. The Hubble was supposed to operate until 2010, but without the servicing mission, it may continue to operate only as late as 2007 or 2008, depending on when its gyroscopes and batteries wear out. After finishing work on the international space station, NASA plans to retire its shuttles as the space agency turns to President Bush's plan to refocus its mission to sending humans back to the moon and then to Mars. Hubble's maintenance schedule originally called for an astronaut to install new instruments and replace and upgrade worn parts of the telescope in December 2003 -- the fifth time such maintenance would be performed -- but the space shuttle Columbia disaster pushed back the upgrade until 2006, Margon said. Now it is not scheduled to happen at all. One common suggestion from the public has been that NASA should take Hubble to the space station for the maintenance, but for a variety of reasons -- including the largely dissimilar orbits Hubble and the station occupy -- that would not be feasible, Margon said. Hubble-lovers also have suggested sending an unmanned robotic mission to perform some of the tasks an astronaut normally would complete manually. Margon said the institute will be setting up a Web site soon to accept public suggestions for the Hubble. The Hubble decision was not an easy one for the space agency, said Anne Kinney, division director of astronomy and physics in the office of space science at NASA headquarters. NASA still is focusing on Hubble's future, she said, and working to extend the telescope's life despite the maintenance moratorium. There is a 50 percent chance that three of Hubble's gyroscopes -- the number needed for the telescope to function -- will continue to work until 2006, and maybe longer, Kinney said. NASA also is exploring whether Hubble might be able to operate on two gyroscopes. "It's important to remember that Hubble is still going to do great work," she said. "It's not closing down today." Margon said he is concerned about the gap between the Hubble's death and the launching of the next major telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for 2011. "Hubble was not a tired old racehorse whose time had come to go to pasture," Margon said. "The coming years of Hubble were designed to be the very best." washingtonpost.com lurqer

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (36552)	1/29/2004 12:27:17 PM
From: Mannie	Respond to of 89467

Reject Nomination of Bush and Blair for Nobel Prize Dear Nobel Prize committee I am writing to protest the nomination of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush for the Nobel Peace Prize, and to urge the committee not to award this prestigious recognition to them. Norwegian Member of Parliament Harald Tom Nesvik announced that he has submitted a nomination for Tony Blair and George W. Bush for "their decisive action against terrorism, something I believe in the future will be the greatest threat to peace." From what I understand, the provisions set by Alfred Nobel specify that the winner of the Peace Prize "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." However, Tony Blair has ordered more military actions than any U.K. leader since World War II, with at least one military action every year since 1998. George W. Bush has initiated a war not only against Afghanistan, but an undefined, open ended "War on Terrorism" which administration officials threaten to expand to other nations such as Iran, North Korea, and Iraq. In pursuit of his "War on Terrorism," Bush has urged massive increases to the size and funding of the U.S. standing military. He has also embroiled the U.S. in civil wars throughout the developing world. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has stated that the global "War on Terrorism" launched by Bush "may never end. At least, not in our lifetimes." Many global peace groups have been working hard and making change toward ending violence and global suffering, but have been stonewalled or even intimidated by the war administrations of Bush and Blair. The courageous, nonviolent direct work for peace by groups such as Women in Black (a 2001 Nobel Peace Prize nominee) and the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, stands in direct contrast to the global warfare launched by Prime Minister Blair and President Bush. Perpetual war is not peace. Whether or not Bush and Blair's actions are justified, their extensive and expanding pursuit of warfare is not the same thing as working for peace by any definition of the word, and does not amount to "fraternity between nations, ... the abolition or reduction of standing armies and ... holding and promotion of peace congresses." I hope that the Nobel Peace Prize committee will reject Nesvik's proposal and choose to make an award that will respect the unique prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the individuals and groups who have truly worked for global peace. thepetitionsite.com

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (36552)	2/2/2004 10:25:26 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Hubble Detects Oxygen, Carbon Around Distant Planet Mon 2 February, 2004 19:51 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Hubble Space Telescope has detected oxygen and carbon in the atmosphere of a distant planet, the first time these elements have been found around a world outside our solar system, scientists said on Monday. Unlike Earth, the planet is a hot, gassy orb very close to its sun-like star, and the oxygen and carbon are not signs of any sort of life, Hubble scientists said in a statement. Still, astronomers said Hubble's findings show that the chemical composition of atmospheres of planets many light-years away can be measured. The planet -- known as HD 209458b or Osiris -- is orbiting a star 150 light-years from Earth. A light-year is about 6 trillion miles, the distance light travels in a year. Osiris is only 4.3 million miles from its star -- compared with Earth's 93 million miles from the sun -- and whips around in an orbit of less than four days. It belongs to a class of planets called "hot Jupiters," whose upper atmosphere is so hot it boils hydrogen off into space. NASA announced last month that it would not send a previously scheduled servicing mission to Hubble, effectively consigning the orbiting telescope to a slow death. reuters.co.uk lurqer