How Much Did The Hubble Telescope Cost For Its Shuttle Servicing Mission

Many experts feel that finding out how much the Hubble cost for its Shuttle servicing mission is very important. This is because that cost can be very enormous. Is it worth it?

The Hubble Telescope's shuttle service mission has been urgently endorsed by the Bahcall and Lanzerotti committees. They are know for their expertise and include Nobel level members, and experienced NASA engineers and managers.

Since the Columbia accident there have been four successful missions, the cost over this 3 year period is between 300 million and 400 million.

The Senate Appropriations Committee in 2004 asked for a report of the Hubble Telescope's costs of a Shuttle based service mission.

The Government Accountability Office concluded that NASA's cost requirements could not be substantiated. They found most of these costs were not for the Hubble Telescope but for the return flight. For all this money you should be able to see Hubble's latest images.

How much did this cost: 76 million went for the Shuttle servicing mission. In order to sustain the engineering of the Hubble mission about 475 million. Tile inspection and rescue mission capabilities equal 553 to 636 million.

Four hundred million to one billion in costs are for the assumed delay in Shuttle phase out and delay in Space Station completion. The wide range of costs is because of the uncertainty in the number of missions that might really be needed.

The costs for 2005 are around 300 million, and consist mostly for maintaining engineering for the Hubble Telescope mission.

In conclusion the financial cost requirements for a Shuttle based service mission can be contained within the NASA budget without sacrificing other science programs.