I'm heartened to see NASA announce plans to repair the Hubble telescope. Granted, it only extends the lifetime from 2009 to 2013, but since we have shuttle flights going up there anyway and we have the capability to fix it, I don't see why we shouldn't keep it running as long as possible. (Personally, I'd place a higher priority on the telescope than the space station, but that's just me.)

Fyi, the James Webb Space Telescope (no relation to the Virginia democratic challenger) is scheduled to launch in 2013 and is designed to last just 5-10 years. Note to future telescope makers: How about making them so they run indefinitely?? I guess it's a planned obsolescence thing to keep the lucrative government contracts flowing.

Thomas Krehbiel writes The Krehbiel Strikes Back, a moderate commentary on news, media, politics, and culture. — Virginians, Vote No.