From Andrew Potter
In your article “Hubble? Phoenix, more like” (17 April, p 26), you mention that at the end of its useful life the space telescope will be made to partly burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, with the remainder landing in the Pacific.
I would like to propose an alternative that will preserve this precious artefact for future generations. Rather than sending up a robot rocket to propel it to a fiery end, I suggest nudging it up to a higher orbit where it can survive for decades or even centuries, until some future generation can bring it back to Earth intact and place it in a museum.
I don’t see why keeping Hubble in orbit should cost much more than dumping it unceremoniously into the ocean.
Rochester, New York, US
