At an all-day public discussion on 31 July about the planned demise of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Anne Kinney informed the crowd of NASA’s intention: a controlled deorbit of the HST in 2010. This plan would allow NASA to concentrate on the James Webb Space Telescope, the HST’s designated successor (see the box on page 30). NASA officials are worried that extending the HST’s life would drain funds from the space science budget and delay JWST’s launch beyond 2011. “We believe it’s a good plan… for both the HST and JWST,” said Kinney, division director of astronomy and physics at NASA’s office of space science.
But by the end of the meeting, which was held at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC, most of the 200 astronomers, engineers, and NASA employees in the audience appeared in favor of extending the HST’s lifetime. That view was shared by a six-member...