Hope for the Hubble
The week's news at a glance.
Baltimore
NASA last week promised to reconsider plans to abandon the Hubble Space Telescope to an early death. Under orders from President Bush to return to the moon, the space agency in mid-January decided to cancel a 2006 shuttle mission to upgrade the orbiting telescope. Without the tuneup, Hubble will flicker out before its scheduled retirement, in 2010. Astronomers flooded the space agency and the Hubble lab, in Baltimore, with pleas to keep the telescope sending back photos. “Its ability to peer into the distant universe is unparalleled,” said scientist Bruce Betts. NASA asked a retired Navy admiral to study whether was it worth the risk to launch the shuttle mission to keep Hubble functioning.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Critics’ choice: Restaurants worthy of their buzz
feature A fun bistro, a reservation worth the wait, and a modern twist on Mexican dishes
By The Week US Published
-
Film reviews: Snow White, Death of a Unicorn, and The Alto Knights
Feature A makeover for Disney’s first animated feature, greedy humans earn nature’s wrath, and a feud between crime bosses rattles the mob
By The Week US Published
-
Bombs or talks: What’s next in the US-Iran showdown?
Talking Points US gives Tehran a two-month deadline to deal
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published