word going around that Hubble servicing mission scheduled for May is in danger of being reconsidered because of higher mission risk
haven't seen the memo, but it went around:
due to the Iridium vs Kosmos collision there is concern that higher debris levels in LEO make SM4 too risky, and it is to be re-evaluated and possibly postponed, again, or canceled.
that kinda sux
if someone has the memo, do pass it along, there's a good chap
here's the satellite collision story, in case you missed it - was all over the news media
This is going to be a real problem, because there is still no administrator for NASA, and this sort of thing requires a pro-active high level decision.
Since the issue has been raised, a default action to play it safe and postpone a decision is likely (although a keep going as before is also a possible default decision).
It is going to be an interesting spring.
Apparently this made CNN and some other pubs (see Nature article here.
I have not heard anything from anyone at ST.
Oh, and NASAwatch has a new candidate for NASA adminstrator.
So what I hear now is that the debris should not be an issue for SM4 - it is at the wrong attitude and inclination - which makes sense from the rough numbers I heard;
but, there's some cracking in hydrogen valves and they're not sure if this is something to be waived or requiring a slip while fixing - launch is still on for may 12, nominally, but a delay seems also to be under active consideration
Well, I am glad that the debris is not an issue. The valves, though, remind me why Griffin wants to retire shuttle.
Thanks for the update.