Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2021 January 17

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January 17

Why NASA still running Hubble space telescope ?

Why NASA still running Hubble space telescope ? It is one of the longest serving telescope in space. Rizosome (talk) 03:01, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

They are still running it because it hasn't completely broken yet. And we haven't managed to get a better one into space yet. The James Webb Space Telescope was supposed to launch in 2007 and is currently scheduled to launch Oct 2021. Rmhermen (talk) 05:20, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

Scientific satellites and space probes are very expensive to design, build and launch (and repair while in orbit), but once launched relatively cheap to operate. So it makes sense to keep them running for as long as they can produce useful science. Having two telescopes is better than having one, as you can observe more objects. And although JWST is sometimes called the successor of HST, it isn't better in every respect. In particular, JWST isn't designed to work in blue or near-UV light. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:45, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

Yes, scientists are bored with normal light. No upcoming space telescopes have visible light cameras. Rmhermen (talk) 22:42, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

Depends what you mean by upcoming. According to the above linked article on the Hubble space telescope, the Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor would have although it still more of a concept than a concrete plan and that article gives a 2025-2035 time frame. The article on the LUVOIR gives a 2039 launch window assuming it actually gets funded, but does confirm visible coverage is still planned. Note that both the Hubble and James Webb article mention that the James Webb does actually cover a small part of what is the human visible spectrum since it goes down to 600nm i.e. orange. Nil Einne (talk) 07:04, 18 January 2021 (UTC)

A potentially more likely example may be the Xuntian. As with a lot of Chinese stuff, it's difficult to get a read of what's going on, but AFAICT, it's still in active development [1] [2] [3] and it looks like it will include visible light imaging capabilities [4]. Development will likely depend on the Chinese large modular space station it's intended to be sometimes coupled to and serviced by, but I think it's clear China considers developing a successful space programme probably including a space telescope an important part of demonstrating their rise as a technological super power so it's fairly likely they will launch something, and they also likely have the resources to devote to it [5]. While this doesn't have to include visible light imaging, they'd likely want something capable of producing impressive images whatever those images are based on (as is the case most impressive images from space telescopes aren't based solely, maybe not even at all, on visible light). Nil Einne (talk) 10:17, 18 January 2021 (UTC)