The end of Hubble

When the space shuttle Atlantis touched down in California two days ago, it ended a mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope. Such missions have happened before, and they are always news, but this was especially big news since it was the last mission to repair the world's most famous telescope.

And so when another piece on the Hubble breaks down -- as it inevitably will -- the Hubble will be no more. The telescope that brought us so many incredible images will just be another piece of space junk.

In fact, Discover Magazine (the link above) wrote, "It is likely to be the last time in our lives that human beings go to space to 'fix' an orbiting scientific instrument."

To see some of the great photos taken by the Hubble head over to the Hubble website and search through the amazing pictures taken by the telescope. They are public domain and you can use them as you want -- as long as you credit NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Miles O'Brien took a look at Hubble from the perspective of someone who "cut [his] teeth on the space beat covering the legendary STS-61 mission in December 1993"

So will there ever be another Hubble? As he unfailingly does, Ed Weiler cut to the chase: “Probably not, because there won’t be a shuttle.”

Indeed, Hubble and Shuttle are inextricably linked - both conceived and gestated with each other in mind in the seventies.

“They are like two kids growing up in the same family,” says Weiler. “They impacted each other’s designs.”

In fact, Hubble’s mirror is 2.4 meters in diameter so that it could fit in the Shuttle cargo bay – and it flies in Shuttle striking distance (low earth orbit) even though that is by no means the ideal place to park a space telescope (half the time, Mother Earth proves to Hubble she would be a better door than a window).

With some luck, the Hubble space telescope will continue sending pictures of distant galaxies back to Earth for another decade or so.

And we can keep using their photos (they are public domain as long as you credit NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute) to get tiny glimpses into the universe.

Vote for Manny

Someone came up with a great idea that I wish I had thought of: A blog that urges people to vote for Manny Ramirez to be a starter in the Major League Baseball All-Star game in June.

Manny is my favorite baseball player (and we're apparently on a first-name basis), mainly because he seems so... genuine. There is that whole cheating thing, but, hey if other cheaters are in the Hall of Fame, why not Manny?

And to connect this with a previous post, I have to recommend these two Onion articles:Manny Ramirez: 'Am I In Trouble?' and Manny Ramirez Likes Red Sox's New Blue Uniforms.

The blog, VoteForManny.blogspot.com, says the purpose of the campaign is:

To highlight the silliness that are the MLB rules towards PED users as well as their "head in the sand" approach to this situation. Rather than confront it head-on, MLB is choosing to do nothing and simply hope there are three higher vote getters in the NL OF.

I'm not sure what they're talking about, but if there is any way to legally embarrass Bud Selig, then I'm all for it.

Oh, and Manny is in fourth place right now.

The Onion: Very Funny

Is there anything on the internet that is as consistently good at what they do as The Onion?

I offer this headline: In Attempt To Jump-Start Economy, Obama Declares Tuesdays Ladies' Night

If you want a look into the newsroom at The Onion, you can listen to this episode of This American Life from February of 2008.

What was probably The Onion's finest moment, however, came after 9/11. The newspaper stopped presses for a week after the attacks on New York and Washington D.C. and came back with an issue themed "Holy Fucking Shit: Attack on America."

Articles included American Life Turns Into Bad Jerry Bruckheimer Movie and U.S. Vows To Defeat Whoever It Is We're At War With with which The Onion somehow managed to be funny and capture the thoughts of millions of Americans at that very difficult time.

The American Journalism Review wrote about that edition:

The New York Times' John Schwartz lavishly praised the edition, describing the "Hijackers" story as "searingly brutal" and "cathartic for many readers." "[O]ther articles in the carefully balanced package show a sense of compassion and even grace," he wrote.

Still, some were offended; others just disappointed. Online Journalism Review published a commentary by contributor Steven Zeitchik on October 19 that criticized the issue as preachy, obvious and lacking punch. Zeitchik preceded his complaints with "Normally, I'm one of the many who finds the Onion riotously funny. But when it came to the attacks, something seemed off." The hijackers-in-hell headline, he wrote, is "one of the lazier forms of humor: moral grandstanding. Do we really need to be told what naughty little boys those terrorists were?"

But overall, the response "was pretty overwhelming," says writer Garden. "It was really kind of moving to see how much of an impact it had.... People wrote in and said that this was the first thing they had laughed at. It was really touching to be part of the healing process in a way that I never thought I would be capable of."

TV show remakes?

Bill Simmons at ESPN.com has an interesting idea -- remaking TV shows. Not remaking them as movies as was done with poor results with Get Smart and less-poor results with Mission Impossible, but actually making a new TV series.

His friend and fellow ESPN worker Kevin Wildes actually came up with the idea on Monday's edition of Simmons' podcast, The BS Report (mp3).

And the first idea up? Cheers: Chicago.

Before you cry "blasphemy!" think about it -- it if was a good enough idea and a good enough show, why couldn't they do a remake of it? Wildes and Simmons make the point that we have no problem envisioning an old TV show becoming a movie (Charlie's Angels, Miami Vice, etc. etc.) or of taking a show popular in England and importing it over here (done well with The Office and not so much with Coupling) -- so why not redo a classic TV show as a new TV show?

It's at least worth a listen.

And if you're into the whole Twitter thing, you can follow Simmons (caution: Basketball heavy) at @sportsguy33 and Wildes is at @kevinwildes.

Top ten Champion's League plays

Offered without comment.