[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 324 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 324

   Expressing the sense of the Senate relating to the extraordinary 
 contributions resulting from the Hubble Space Telescope to scientific 
 research and education, and to the need to reconsider future service 
                missions to the Hubble Space Telescope.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 25, 2004

 Ms. Mikulski (for herself and Mr. Brownback) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
                           and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Senate relating to the extraordinary 
 contributions resulting from the Hubble Space Telescope to scientific 
 research and education, and to the need to reconsider future service 
                missions to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Whereas discoveries from the Hubble Space Telescope have dominated space science 
        news over the last 10 years;
Whereas the Hubble Space Telescope has provided proof of black holes, insights 
        into the birth and death of stars, spectacular views of Comet Shoemaker-
        Levy 9's collision with Jupiter, the age of the Universe, and evidence 
        that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating;
Whereas the inspiring scientific discoveries from the Hubble Space Telescope 
        reach millions of students each year and have been important in 
        encouraging students to study the sciences;
Whereas the inspiring scientific discoveries from the Hubble Space Telescope 
        reach millions of students each year and have been important in 
        encouraging students to study the sciences;
Whereas the 2000 National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey endorsed a plan to 
        maintain the Hubble Space Telescope until 2010;
Whereas the Hubble Space Telescope has been the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration's most scientifically productive mission, accounting for 
        35 percent of all National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
        discoveries in the last 20 years;
Whereas the demand for research time on the Hubble Space Telescope in 2003 was 
        approximately 8 times that available;
Whereas approximately $200,000,000 worth of instruments have largely been built, 
        including scientific instruments that would provide significant 
        improvements in Hubble's scientific power and including replacement 
        gyroscopes and batteries, which could keep the telescope in operation 
        until 2011 or 2012 and make the Hubble Space Telescope's final years its 
        most scientifically capable and productive;
Whereas the distinguished panel that studied scientific priorities for 
        ultraviolet and optical astronomy in 2003 considered the continued 
        operation of the Hubble Space Telescope by means of the SM-4 servicing 
        mission to be its highest priority; and
Whereas the American Astronomical Society, the largest professional scientific 
        association for astronomers and astrophysicists, believes a panel of 
        experts should review the decision to limit prematurely the lifespan of 
        the Hubble Space Telescope: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the extraordinary contributions resulting 
        from the Hubble Space Telescope to scientific research and 
        education;
            (2) strongly recommends that the Administrator of the 
        National Aeronautics and Space Administration appoint an 
        independent panel of expert scientists and engineers inside and 
        outside of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to 
        examine all possible options for safely carrying out the 
        planned servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and 
        assess alternative servicing methods; and
            (3) expresses its strong sentiment that the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration should continue all 
        planning, preparation, and astronaut training activities for 
        the SM-4 servicing mission without interruption until the 
        expert panel issues its report and until the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration provides a timetable of 
        compliance with recommendation R6.4-1 of the Columbia Accident 
        Investigation Board report, which calls for ``a fully 
        autonomous capability for all missions to address the 
        possibility that an International Space Station mission fails 
        to achieve the correct orbit, fails to dock successfully, or is 
        damaged during or after undocking'', since National Aeronautics 
        and Space Administration compliance with the recommendation 
        will allow both a Hubble servicing mission and missions to the 
        International Space Station to be carried out safely.
                                 <all>