Re:The Oldest Galaxies in the Universe
by melling on Monday October 26, 2015 @08:41PM
(#10455473)
Although the Webb telephone will be 100x better than Hubble, you gotta wonder if it wouldn't be useful to keep Hubble around for a few more decades. Surely, there's enough work for both.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Absolutely, Hubble can see in the optical and near-UV, while James Webb will be limited to the infrared. "Limited" is one way of putting it, it'll be immensely valuable in finding astrophysical phenomena and also distant Solar System objects (Perhaps yet bigger Pluto's orbiting in the distance).
We also need specialized spacecraft in the vein of Terrestrial Planetary Finder and definitely a follow-on mission of Kepler, as well as ground-based planet-finding telescopes like Colossus: http://the-colossus.com/ .
We could also use a systematic search for solar systems similar to [KIC 8462852](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIC_8462852).
Re:The Oldest Galaxies in the Universe
by brittonsmith on Tuesday October 27, 2015 @04:35AM
(#10456849)
You're absolutely right and, thankfully, NASA agrees with you. NASA plans to continue operating Hubble even after JWST is up for as long as Hubble still functions. Without shuttles, there will be no more servicing missions, so when it breaks, that'll be it. Until then, Hubble will keep doing its thing.