Jeff Faust has a comprehensive report on the current thinking about the fate of the Hubble Space Telescope, which is reaching the end of its life. The issues are whether or not to extend its life, and if not, how best to decommission it. The Columbia loss has complicated the issue considerably, because Shuttle missions, particularly Shuttle missions that don’t go to the ISS (where it can be inspected prior to entry, and support the crew temporarily in the event of a problem) are viewed differently now than they were on January 31.

One idea. We have a few years to deal with the problem (unless the gyros fail), so why not put up a prize for a private mission to do a life extension and instrument changeout? If nobody wins by some set date, then the government’s out no money, and they can launch a fallback Shuttle mission to decommission.

But if somebody wins, then science and the nation win.

Big.