Your e-mails: Should Hubble be saved?

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(CNN) -- NASA has announced plans to send astronauts on a final mission to repair the aging Hubble Space Telescope. The mission would extend Hubble's life until about 2013. Without a servicing mission, the powerful telescope is expected to deteriorate in the next few years.

We asked CNN.com readers what they thought about the mission to extend Hubble's life. Here is a selection of the responses, some of which have been edited for length and clarity.

I believe it is imperative that we repair the Hubble Space Telescope and return it to full operating capacity as soon as possible. The telescope has proven to be one of the most important scientific instruments ever created by man in his quest for knowledge. We must do whatever is necessary to insure its operation as far into the future as is reasonably possible.
Leigh Letson, Basalt, Colorado

We've spent a fortune putting it up there, we ought to get our money's worth out of it and keep it up there as long as possible. Yeah, I know it's expensive to fix, but so is my car's transmission. It was a lot cheaper to repair it than buy a new car.
Philip Chika, Aurora, Colorado

I cannot see the necessity of pouring all this money into outer space when we cannot come up with enough money to take care of the hunger, sickness, and myriad problems right here on earth. Who cares if there was water or life on Mars a thousand years ago? All it is doing is making nice jobs for a lot of people while the working class is getting shafted with the payments for years.
Parker Nadeau, Braintree, Massachusetts

The Hubble Space Telescope should be saved. It has been an invaluable tool for scientists to learn about the universe. If it is not repaired, it should be replaced with a bigger and more powerful telescope. It has provided more information then the space shuttle program has, at a fraction of the cost!
James Hough, Salinas, California

Having worked on the project at its beginning and going through the trials as a result of the flawed mirror, and then seeing the triumph of the first servicing mission, I feel it deserves at least one more servicing mission. Also because its replacement the Webb telescope I suspect will likely not be ready until 2010 or 2011. The two projects need to overlap.
James Blackwell, Germantown, Maryland

Scientific achievements and the effort it takes to make them, whether in space or on earth, are easily shrugged off in these challenging times. The return on investment regarding the Hubble Telescope is considerable. To extend the life of such a valuable research tool is a much better option than paying for another one down the line.
Monte Thompson, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

If you owned an expensive Cadillac, and the repairperson said that it would take a thousand dollars to repair; would you scrap the car or fix it considering it has another seven years of service? It's simple economics.
Ken and Kathi Collins, Sweet Home, Oregon

The bigger question should be "who cares?" With our social, border security, homeland security and educational programs in dire need of limited federal funds, spending one penny more on the space program of any sort is absurd. I've yet to hear one report of how money spent in space has helped our general population of the United States and any meaningful way.
Michael Foster, Clay, Michigan

Hubble has been more important to science than any other NASA program. It is far more important that the International Space Station, which even still under construction is derelict.
Robert Wood, Huntsville, Alabama

If we're ever going to build an outpost on the moon and send an exploration mission to Mars and beyond, Hubble will definitely be necessary, and very vital to these missions and future missions to outer space. Hubble was the best thing NASA put into space, let's keep it there!
Michelle Cartier-Barnes, Middletown, New York

The Hubble is one of the great triumphs of U.S. science, and has brought incredible knowledge to the human race. We should keep it working as long as possible. It represents the best of what our society can do for mankind.
John Boylan, Rhinebeck, New York

Why can't the Hubble be towed to the space station and docked there?
Ulrich Rudofsky, Delmar, New York

I support the spending of tax dollars for saving the Hubble. Instead of our tax dollars going to a fruitless and failed venture in Iraq, we will be using our money for a valuable research and peaceful project.
James Cole, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Absolutely! We owe a great deal to this machine andt its creators, and it deserves its rightful place in the Smithsonian as one of the greatest icons of the American Spirit.
Jarratt Willis, Nacogdoches, Texas

I do not think there should be a mission to extend the life of the Hubble. My inner city community could use the tax dollars being spent.
Vivian Ellis, Kansas City, Missouri

There has not been a single more important space instrument than Hubble. It has gotten my students "into" space. We use the images and reports, do web quests and amaze at the pictures that it sends us. It would have been the "biggest disaster" NASA's space program has encountered. Thank you, thank you, thank you for funding the maintenance of Hubble.
Sally Wood Hoskin, Hartland, Michigan

I would rather spend my money on the Hubble telescope than the space lab which in my opinion is a relic of the cold war.
Glen Nilsen, St Paul, Minnesota

How can anyone deny this mission? Our ability to view the universe from our little planet is very important if we one day expect to explore it. The more knowledge we gain through these pictures the better our understanding and thus the more important our future space exploration becomes.
Jefferson Davis, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Cartographers and geographical information systems professionals find the discovery of new solar systems and their mapping important to the future of earth as it relates to the universe. As a GIS professional I believe the Hubble Space Telescope should be maintained indefinitely.
Loren Cofell, Custer, South Dakota

OK, so with a repair mission we get an additional 3 or 4 years of service beyond what is expected to be realized without the repair mission. Based upon referencing Hubble data collected to date (as a research guide) I think that astronomers could probably learn very much more [through continued use of the Hubble] between now and 2013 than they have already learned (to date) through the use of Hubble.
James Crawford, Winter Haven, Florida

Put the money to better use. The space program is too costly already.
Jim McGrady, Columbia, South Carolina

Not only should Hubble be serviced, but our government should guarantee us they will keep Hubble operational until a replacement is in place. The human species and this country are so short sighted we refuse to put time in anything unless it is making us money or political gain.
Brandon Cooper, Terre Haute, Indiana

Though I strongly support space exploration, extending scientific knowledge is, to me, far more important than sending humans to the moon again, or especially to Mars. We have enough problems here on Earth to keep our politicians busy for eons. Let them solve some of them before biting off more to chew. Meanwhile, the Hubble, robots, probes and other equipment can effectively move mankind further into space.
Galen McBride, Culpeper, Virginia

Scuttling Hubble would be like exterminating all the dolphins and elephants in the world -- a total tragedy! We must find a way to keep the Hubble up there beyond 2013.
Elizabeth San Vicente, Durango, Colorado

In a time where we are diplomatically, economically, and morally imploding as a nation, the Hubble represents what's left of what's right with our system. Instead of collapsing in on itself like our government, the group at NASA is expanding the horizons; using its brain power to learn and move forward -- and that IS what made our country great!
Paul Kruger, Denville, New Jersey

I believe it is in the best interest to extend the HST's lifespan. It is still the most sophisticated telescope we have at our disposal. It is not only an instrument capturing visible light but also near-infrared regions of the spectrum. With advancements in technology, I am confident that something better can be built and launched; however, that is billions of dollars and years down the way. My thoughts are that this is a cheaper alternative to a new program. Until there is some other viable mission, we cannot afford to lose Hubble.
Matthew Rathbun, Wichita, Kansas

NASA should be disbanded and the entire space program terminated. The money used to fund NASA could be used for other research. There is no reason to return to the moon or even Mars. Explore the earth first.
Paul Green, Palmdale, California

Get rid of "Pork Barrel" government spending and give it to NASA to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble is also a great educator -- keep it.
Joseph Chafetz, Austin, Texas

It's only the most important scientific tool yet made. Really, the idiocy of even asking such a question reeks of ignorance and a fear of scientific discovery.
John Ickes, Sherman, Texas

Should we attempt to extend the serviceable lifetime of the most highly successful scientific instruments ever to be placed into orbit? Absolutely... As for those who would argue that the money is lost in space, they should remember there is no cash in orbit. The money spent pays salaries for the thousands of people involved in space science. Those salaries pay mortgages and buy groceries just like any other job. The difference is that we can maintain -- and develop -- high tech capabilities in providing such work. And besides, it's just plain exciting!
Robert Owen, Commack, New York

I believe instead of spending the money on Hubble, they should replace it with a more powerful telescope. I also think they should put several powerful telescopes on the International Space Station instead of putting them in orbit. That way we can justify some of the expense of the station and get a little more research out of it.
John, Lebanon, Ohio

I think there are a multitude of things that need fixing on earth than in space. This money could be used on education, health care and social security. The space program is nothing more than a play toy for a special few companies.
Dan Edwins, North Augusta, Georgia

Don't believe those folk who say the money is better spent on immediate needs. Money is spent wisely when we look to a far horizon and encompassing goals. That's why extending Hubble's life is so encouraging. The shorter our vision, the more overwhelming our problems. We need all the vision-thing we can get.
Joani Selement, Fernandina Beach, Florida

YES!!! Look at the cost of returning to the moon. If we had maintained the initial capability, and continued to build on that, instead of flying around the planet on the International Space Station man could have had an international outpost on the moon.
Brian Bevins, Satellite Beach, Florida

What? Are you kidding me? There never should have been ANY question about saving Hubble. We've learned more from Hubble than we have from all the shuttle missions put together. I'm glad there are still politicians out there to whom "science" actually means something. Now, when can we start the manned Mars mission?
Scott Dunham, Chicago, Illinois

I know I speak for all of my colleagues here (at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore) in expressing total elation with regards to this news (to service the Hubble Space Telescope). We all watched the announcement live in the auditorium and erupted in applause. HST is an INTERNATIONAL treasure, and one of the most significant scientific instruments in all of history. This is a great day for humankind.
Grant Tremblay, Baltimore, Maryland

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