Events are listed in reverse time order

Sky and Telescope article "Gloves Come Off in Fight to Save Hubble"

Sky and Telescope article "A House Call for a Hubble House Call"

STScI page on SM4 cancellation.

The measured benefit of HST and supporting information.

Friday, January 23 Sky and Telescope "How to Help Hubble" article published.

AAS Press Release distributed.

AAS Council Statement on the Cancellation of Future Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Missions posted.

On Thursday, January 22, the AAS council discussed by phone conference the issue and what action the AAS should take. A draft statement encompassing the full council discussion is being prepared by the President.

An article on Senator Mikulski's letter has been posted on space.com. Another has appeared on Sky and Telescope's website.

On Wednesday, January 21, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) sent a letter to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe asking that he reconsider the decision to cancel future servicing missions for Hubble and also called for an independent panel of experts outside of NASA to review and assess all issues relating to future Hubble servicing missions.

On Tuesday, January 20, the AAS Committee on Astronomy and Public Policy met by phone conference to discuss the issue and subsequently formulated a draft statement for discussion by the council and possible endorsement by the Executive Committee. Active CAPP discussion prior to the phone conference took place by email, beginning shortly after Administrator O'Keefe's meeting with Hubble staff at GSFC.

On Friday, January 16, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe met with the director of the Space Telescope Science Institute among others to inform him of his decision to not proceed with servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope.

As of Thursday, January 22, the AAS has not yet taken an official position on this issue, but the elected leadership and the Committee on Astronomy and Public Policy are deeply concerned about the impact of this decision on US Astronomy. The decision appears to have been taken based on safety concerns, and not budgetary issues.

As more reliable and accurate details become available, we will post them here for the AAS membership.

A message will shortly circulate from the AAS President describing the current course of action. Further activities on this issue will be listed below in reverse date order.