Astronaut-astronomer John Grunsfeld calls the Hubble Space Telescope "arguably the most important scientific instrument ever created," important enough for him and others to risk their lives walking in space for five days to make repairs. Now it's almost time to come home. We look at what they did and what the Hubble might find as it looks back farther than ever toward the origin of the universe and the beginning of time. We also consider what's next for the manned space program. Would a return to the Moon and a visit to Mars be cheaper and more effective with robots?
The Hubble and the Future of Space Exploration
Credits
Guests:
- David Leckrone - Senior Project Scientist for Hubble, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
- Jonathan McDowell - Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics - @planet4589
- Jennifer Wiseman - Chief of the ExoPlanets and Stellar Astrophysics Lab, Goddard Space Flight Center
- Robert Park - Professor of Physics, University of Maryland