Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to There's a reason why the Air Force no longer flies P-51s and F-86s

re: Is it really "either/or?"
BRFelix — (archived)

Yes, better, more useful, more expensive equipment is already in use, or scheduled to be ready. And keeping HST aloft and functioning is a costly proposition.

However, as others have pointed out, there's still a backlog of astronomers trying to get time on the HST to do their science, and the newer, better equipment is just as impacted. There is a continuing role for HST to play -- and probably will be for as long as it can be maintained.

In other words, HST is still in demand, still a highly useful instrument, and while costly to maintain (and possibly at some point, unmaintainable), there are always priorities, and perhaps cutting somewhere else should be considered more carefully.

Oddly, some of the obsolete aircraft you point to continued to be flown long after their US defense utility was eclipsed by other planes. It wasn't necessarily emotion that kept them in the air, either. Other utilities were found for them.

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