Hubble May Yet Be Saved!

[Tuckerfan]

At least the new director wants to do that.

NASA will delay two ambitious missions to search for extrasolar planets in order to fund a shuttle mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope, agency chief Mike Griffin told a US Senate subcommittee on Thursday.

Griffin, who has held his post for just a month, also announced plans to reorganise the agency’s management structure and suggested changes to the construction schedule of the International Space Station.

“NASA cannot afford everything that is on its plate today,” Griffin told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science. The hearing covered NASA’s budget request for 2006 as well as changes to its 2005 budget.

Griffin is proceeding with plans to send a shuttle mission to repair and upgrade Hubble, reversing a controversial decision by his predecessor Sean O’Keefe to simply let the telescope die. Griffin told the Senate committee he would make a final decision on the servicing mission after the first two shuttles return to flight.

Cross your fingers.