
Hubble telescope camera is broken and US government shutdown could delay repairs - Someone
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00094-0
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harshulpandav
“In a nutshell, the government shutdown should not impact our response to the
anomaly with WFC3,” she said. “The primary people we need in the Flight and
Science Operations will be available to troubleshoot. A tiger team has already
been activated.”

Source: [https://gizmodo.com/hubble-space-telescope-faces-more-
hardwa...](https://gizmodo.com/hubble-space-telescope-faces-more-hardware-
trouble-1831636773)

~~~
partiallypro
I was honestly wondering how/why a government shutdown would effect NASA in
any broad measure. It doesn't look like, from skimming the article, Nature
even interviewed a single person. It's all just conjecture. Sloppy journalism
is one of the biggest reasons the press is not trusted more broadly.

~~~
golem14
Just as anecdata, my neighbor, working at NASA (Moffett) seems to be on
furlough.

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mturmon
Yes, almost all folks at Moffett (NASA Ames Research Center) are US government
employees, just as at NASA Goddard. They will be on furlough unless their job
is essential.

STScI/APL in Baltimore, like JPL in Pasadena, are technically contractors. As
described nearby, they are still at work like normal due to the float in money
already sent (to Hopkins/APL or Caltech, respectively) but not yet dispersed.

Of course, those folks are looking on anxiously as this fiasco plays out,
designing telescopes, probes, and rovers like usual, but with uneasy coffee
room conversations.

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baxtr
Aliens have been waiting for this chance since years

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Varcht
I knew the aliens were colluding with Trump!

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kakarot
All of this distraction with building a wall, when we should have been
building a roof.

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sublupo
So what's the problem with that? it's not like by delaying the repairs a few
months that something worse will happen. Eventually when the government
resumes, the telescope will be repaired. The only issue is that we may miss a
few months of pictures (not saying that the Hubble is useless, just that by
not working for a few months, nothing bad will happen)

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liuliu
As a by-side casual observer, if the military continue to get funded while
civilian departments continue furlough for months if not years, would that
creates some weird social dynamics?

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pastor_elm
All these workers (except potentially contractors) get backpay. Yeah, it sucks
if they have no savings, but people I know in the fed are treating it like a
vacation.

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toufiqbarhamov
I’m pretty sure the ones forced to work without pay don’t feel like it’s a
vacation. No way are air traffic controllers feeling the “beach vibe” and
considering that about a third of TSA workers are calling in sick they seem to
agree. It’s also pretty hard to have savings when your pay is shit, and hard
to plan for insane political whims with indefinite expiration dates.

~~~
pastor_elm
they get 'unpaid overtime compensation,' which can amount to double pay. The
ones furloughed are the ones that can take a vacation, obviously.

~~~
oh_sigh
The problem isn't them eventually getting paid, the problem is them lacking
money in their pockets right now to pay the bills they need to pay right now.

~~~
cobookman
There's plenty of orgs offering government workers interest free loans.

[https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2018/12/27/usaa-...](https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2018/12/27/usaa-
provides-loans-for-members-amid-government.html)

~~~
fzeroracer
Not all workers are going to be covered by interest free loans, and naturally
there are going to be a lot of people scared by the prospect of not getting
paid.

It's still a huge hassle for families to go through and have to deal with.
That's assuming that you manage to get said loan without any other possible
predatory circumstances attached.

~~~
cobookman
Another interest free loan for government employees.

[https://hebrewfreeloandc.org/](https://hebrewfreeloandc.org/)

I believe federal employees still get a paycheck for missed time. Just they
won't get it till government opens back up.

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toufiqbarhamov
You keep missing that a lot of people can’t afford to live without being payed
for an indefinite and undetermined interval. It’s a grossly unfair position to
force people to work without pay because the government is run by the least
among us. That’s not to say they don’t, some of them, have recourse. The issue
is that they shouldn’t have to take out loans or beg from charities, or face
exposure to scams and predatory lenders who hide among the legitimate outlets.

It’s time to emerge from the bubble and recognize that how you live is not how
everyone lives, and maybe even develop a bit of empathy and compassion.

~~~
cobookman
"The problem isn't them eventually getting paid, the problem is them lacking
money in their pockets right now to pay the bills they need to pay right now."

That's the comment I was replying to. If they need money to pay their bills
they can get a 0% loan for their missed paychecks.

There's obviously reasons to be pissed about the shutdown.

~~~
toufiqbarhamov
You’re seemingly confused about a few points, such as the difference between
applying for a loan and receiving one, and the limits even when you manage to
get one. Having said that if you’d like to defer your pay for an indefinite
period and try to support yourself throug such loans, I’d read the blog.

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Magical
These shouldn't really be connected in a perfect society.

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masonic
What "repair" option is there with STS gone?

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willart4food
Did they buy Device Protection via Square Trade?

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kempbellt
Think of the children! I know thousands of people our out of work or working
un-paid, but this is horrendous. Getting the government back online to
prioritize Hubble repairs should be #1 priority!

