In article , AES/newspost
writes:

Not to mention that forcing the Hubble to be launched by the shuttle
(for political reasons) meant that the Hubble was limited to a much
lower orbit than would have otherwise possible and desirable: view of
some of its targets periodically obstructed by Earth, and exposed to
substantially more space debris.

But hey, it employed and enriched allot of donors & voters. And when it
eventually gets zinged by a piece of space debris, we'll have to go up and fix
it again, making for a spectacular IMAX film.

I am afraid that in 50 years or so when the definitive history of this period
is written, the Shuttle will go down like the Concorde: A technical
achievement certainly, but a total commercial/economic failure.

John