Privatize Hubble
Dennis Powell has an interesting idea. Sell or give the Hubble Space telescope to a private foundation, and let them raise the money for a rescue mission. He argues that it would remove pressure from NASA at this awkward stage, and be a useful test case for more general space privatization. And hey, it might save Hubble. And that would be a good thing.
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Buckethead
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More reason to privatize
More reason to privatize space stuff. Make the incentive big enough, and investors will follow.
I suggested the other day on
I suggested the other day on Free Republic that NASA put the Hubble on eBay...
I'm all for it, though I don
I'm all for it, though I don't think many politicians would agree that eBay is the proper venue for privatization...
And that's too bad.Ebay's the
And that's too bad.Ebay's the perfect place!
Although I can't imagine who would want it... It would probably end like the Iridium debacle did: some project finance investors go in and try to find a way to get their investment to start generating revenue, only to find that there's no way to do so, so they let their money burn up in the upper atmosphere.
Who could afford a space telescope, and why would some private company buy an asset with literally astronomical upkeep costs and a finite lifespan? I mean, sure, you can make a certain amount of revenue licensing the images that Hubble captures, and you could sell time on the Hubble like they used to do on University mainframes, but it would take decades to make back your investment, assuming that the sale price is anything close to fair market value for a giant spaceborne telescope (slightly used; one-of-a-kind. Basically, any buyer would be doling out billions for an adminstrative headache and bragging rights.
Unfortunately, some things such as roads and giant spaceborne telescopes, are best financed with public money.