Hubble's lot

Whether the Hubble Space Telescope will be serviced by humans or a robot, or de-orbited is unknown but highly debated. Below, astronomer Alex Filippenko of the University of California, Berkeley, and science writer Robert Zimmerman exchange letters on this topic. Their discussion brings to light several important issues, including past decisions made concerning the telescope. In fact, the battle to save Hubble may have been lost almost a decade ago.