[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 324 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 324
Expressing the sense of the Senate relating to the extraordinary
contributions resulting from the Hubble Space Telescope to scientific
research and education, and to the need to reconsider future service
missions to the Hubble Space Telescope.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 25, 2004
Ms. Mikulski (for herself and Mr. Brownback) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate relating to the extraordinary
contributions resulting from the Hubble Space Telescope to scientific
research and education, and to the need to reconsider future service
missions to the Hubble Space Telescope.
Whereas discoveries from the Hubble Space Telescope have dominated space science
news over the last 10 years;
Whereas the Hubble Space Telescope has provided proof of black holes, insights
into the birth and death of stars, spectacular views of Comet Shoemaker-
Levy 9's collision with Jupiter, the age of the Universe, and evidence
that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating;
Whereas the inspiring scientific discoveries from the Hubble Space Telescope
reach millions of students each year and have been important in
encouraging students to study the sciences;
Whereas the inspiring scientific discoveries from the Hubble Space Telescope
reach millions of students each year and have been important in
encouraging students to study the sciences;
Whereas the 2000 National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey endorsed a plan to
maintain the Hubble Space Telescope until 2010;
Whereas the Hubble Space Telescope has been the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's most scientifically productive mission, accounting for
35 percent of all National Aeronautics and Space Administration
discoveries in the last 20 years;
Whereas the demand for research time on the Hubble Space Telescope in 2003 was
approximately 8 times that available;
Whereas approximately $200,000,000 worth of instruments have largely been built,
including scientific instruments that would provide significant
improvements in Hubble's scientific power and including replacement
gyroscopes and batteries, which could keep the telescope in operation
until 2011 or 2012 and make the Hubble Space Telescope's final years its
most scientifically capable and productive;
Whereas the distinguished panel that studied scientific priorities for
ultraviolet and optical astronomy in 2003 considered the continued
operation of the Hubble Space Telescope by means of the SM-4 servicing
mission to be its highest priority; and
Whereas the American Astronomical Society, the largest professional scientific
association for astronomers and astrophysicists, believes a panel of
experts should review the decision to limit prematurely the lifespan of
the Hubble Space Telescope: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the extraordinary contributions resulting
from the Hubble Space Telescope to scientific research and
education;
(2) strongly recommends that the Administrator of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration appoint an
independent panel of expert scientists and engineers inside and
outside of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to
examine all possible options for safely carrying out the
planned servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and
assess alternative servicing methods; and
(3) expresses its strong sentiment that the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration should continue all
planning, preparation, and astronaut training activities for
the SM-4 servicing mission without interruption until the
expert panel issues its report and until the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration provides a timetable of
compliance with recommendation R6.4-1 of the Columbia Accident
Investigation Board report, which calls for ``a fully
autonomous capability for all missions to address the
possibility that an International Space Station mission fails
to achieve the correct orbit, fails to dock successfully, or is
damaged during or after undocking'', since National Aeronautics
and Space Administration compliance with the recommendation
will allow both a Hubble servicing mission and missions to the
International Space Station to be carried out safely.
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