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The Hubble Wars - Astrophysics Meets Astropolitics in the Two Billion Dollar
Struggle over the Hubble Space Telescope
by Eric J. Chaisson 250 pages Level: Popular The trials and tribulations of getting the Hubble Telescope to work. |
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As a senior staff scientist and later director of education at
the Space Telescope Science Institute, Dr. Chaisson is in a unique position
to document the trials and tribulations of the Hubble Space Telescope. That
he did so in the "Hubble Wars" probably did not bring much joy to many of his
supervisors or co-workers.
The "Hubble Wars" is one of the best accounts of "Big Science" - the type of science in which billions of public dollars is poured into an ostensibly pure scientific and academic endeavor. Dr. Chaisson's account of both the success and difficulties of the Hubble Space Telescope would have been interesting enough if he merely confined himself to his fascinating account of the telescopes construction, launch and operation. But his descriptions of the human conflicts are equally interesting. There are the engineers who are so fascinated with building their new toy, that they see the scientists who are going to actually use the telescope as nuisances. The scientists come in for even worse treatment. Once a scientist indicated his interest in a particular spot in the sky he would gain property rights towards that location and any attempt by someone else to look at "his" nebula or cluster was repulsed. During one argument a scientist blurted out loudly "If you look at those objects before I do, I'll kill you." This is not quite the image of the cool and rational scientist that is still widely accepted. As far as NASA is concerned, nobody will be able to look at any NASA project with equanimity after reading this book. This book is not only devoted to muckraking. Dr. Chaisson is full of genuine admiration for many of the people involved in the HST project and he gives ample space to the real science, despite the difficulties such as the mirror fiasco, that the HST has and will accomplish. |
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| Review by Ed Ehrlich | ||
| Table Of Contents | ||
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Preface Prologue Launch of Space Telescope 1 Deployment and Early Operations 2 Jitters, in Space and on the Ground 3 Hubble's First Light 4 Babel Revisited 5 Rocky Road to the Imaging Campaign 6 Inaugural Science Observations 7 More Early Science Results Epilogue Miracle on Orbit Afterward The "Fix" Index | ||