The Hubble Wars: Astrophysics Meets Astropolitics in the Two-Billion-Dollar Struggle over the Hubble Space Telescope [Hardcover]

Eric J. Chaisson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0060171146 | ISBN-13: 978-0060171148 | Publication Date: May 1994 | Edition: 1st

One of the senior scientists who worked on the Hubble Telescope recounts, in deep human and scientific detail, the three-way struggle between science, government, and industry that led to the malfunctioning, multibillion dollar project. 25,000 first printing. $20,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An astrophysicist on the senior staff of NASA's Space Telescope Science Institute team, Chaisson was centrally involved in the extensive testing and deploying of the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched in 1990. The orbiting observatory, designed to measure distance in deep space with great precision, was the subject of bickering and power-juggling among government agencies, academic astronomers and project engineers. Chaisson, who kept a log of his own work with this profoundly complex, nearly 20-year-long project, offers an observant account of the development and difficulties attached to Hubble's progress, including the problems related to its early orbiting and the flaws discovered in its crucial 94.5-inch primary mirror. Careful to protect related military-intelligence secrets and teasing readers with allusions to the military's large, and largely deleterious, role in the project, Chaisson mitigates the expose aspect of his report. Amateur astronomers, however, will surely reflect the same glee Chaisson demonstrates as they follow his abundantly illustrated chronicle of this "Big Science" effort.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

When launched in April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was billed by NASA as able to "see beyond the edge of the universe." The hype quickly turned into bureaucratic stonewalling when the telescope began showing various engineering flaws. To Chaisson, director of educational programs for the Telescope Science Institute and an unabashed Hubble enthusiast, NASA's posturing and mismanagement were not only administratively unsound, they were just plain bad science. In this insider's account, he lashes out against many key entities (the press, the project subcontractors and engineers, and certain egotistical scientists), but his most biting criticism is reserved for NASA. Chaisson shows how, public perceptions to the contrary, even the hobbled Hubble has produced valuable images. Unfortunately, parts of his book plod with a glut of detail and semitechnical material that can lose many readers. Despite its literary imperfections, this book is a good chronicle of the Hubble episode and how "Big Science" can become counterproductive. For larger public and undergraduate libraries.
- Gregg Sapp, Montana State Univ. Libs., Bozeman
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 386 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (May 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060171146
• ISBN-13: 978-0060171148
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,363,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 20-20 Vision, April 11, 2004

By 

JR Dunn (New Brunswick,, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hubble Wars: Astrophysics Meets Astropolitics in the Two-Billion-Dollar Struggle over the Hubble Space Telescope, With a New Preface (Paperback)

Chaisson has effectively been made a nonperson at NASA (one scientist tangentially involved in the Hubble program told me that he "believed" that Chaisson had been a "janitor or maintenance man"), which implies that he's on to something.

Reading this book will teach you something essential about organizational politics, something that is often revealed, but never corrected, and so must always be relearned. It will also make it clear why -- assorted automated go-carts to the contrary -- we're not going to Mars or anywhere else in the near future, at least not with this outfit.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A roller-coaster ride!, January 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hubble Wars: Astrophysics Meets Astropolitics in the Two-Billion-Dollar Struggle over the Hubble Space Telescope, With a New Preface (Paperback)

Well, one thing's for sure. I'm sure glad that I am not a member of the Hubble project. If I was, I would be dead already. This book is excellent in providing a very fascinating behind-the-scene details of this project and some portions of the book make me,as a taxpayer, very unhappy (especially with an unnamed scientist-child who opposed releasing any pictures to the public). I found that this book is very hard to put down, which is unusual for me. If you have an interest in Astronomy or the Hubble Space Telescope, this book will not disappoint you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Juicy Story of Technological Catastrophe, April 6, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Annapolis, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hubble Wars: Astrophysics Meets Astropolitics in the Two-Billion-Dollar Struggle over the Hubble Space Telescope, With a New Preface (Paperback)

I read the hardback when it first came out. It was a delightful story of how humans coordinate their individual shortcommings to create really fine disasters. The story of Hubble Space Telescope ranks right up there with 3 Mile Island, The Challenger, and of course, The Titanic!

Don't plan to do anything the weekend you get this book!