Preston Burch Quotations

It worked far better than we had expected,

What makes Hubble worthwhile, ... is putting in new science instruments that have state-of-the-art detectors to really make the leaps forward...what we call the 'science discovery factor.' Those are the things that are really going to make Hubble a useful and desirable space research vehicle beyond the 2008 time frame.

I think two more decades of flight is a real possibility for Hubble,

The projected life of Hubble batteries has been extended. We used to say we thought they were good until 2008-2009. Now we're thinking 2010. We think Hubble will remain serviceable until well into 2010based on latest projections and test data we have.

The best idea for extending life beyond two gyros is to get up there with the shuttle and service it. And that's what we're working on.

Scrapping hardware that is three-quarters complete is, I think, sinful,

That's driven principally by the gyros. And right now, we're saying we think we're good until the middle of 2008, ... Hubble will still be worth servicing as long as the batteries hold out.