The robotic mission is a clear waste of money, however much people might try to justify it as supporting VSE.

However, by not throwing Hubble supporters a bone (say, more money to accelerate the James Webb telescope or a human mission to repair Hubbble), NASA is guaranteeing itself a debilitating political fight. As I wrote in my new column for International Space Review, the Hubble battle has already taken too much of the political momentum out of the VSE, and now it stands to take even more.

(One of the things I think this little episode has demonstrated is that people are much cheaper than robots, even when they are launched on the super-expensive Shuttle, and that robots should not be expected to do complex tasks that humans can easily do, even on Mars.)

Does anyone recall if the Webb’s science and control facilities will be in Ms. Mikulski’s district? If that hasn’t been decided, it might be an appropriate bone to throw.

— Donald