What a waste

NASA scientists are undaunted in their decision to scrap the Hubble Space Telescope. It's a foregone conclusion now. Read this story from Space.com:
http://www.space.com/news/050331_hubble_deorbit_plan.html

This decision comes despite protests from just about everyone who ever heard of Hubble.
Not surprisingly, Congress decided to try its hand at "Rocket-Science" and attempt its own rescue. To no avail:
http://www.space.com/news/hoyer_hubble_050330.html

I understand the need to reduce expenses; There are exorbitant costs that come with a repair mission to Hubble. That's money that could be better spent on something else. But what about the emotion? What about the feelings of exploration and research Hubble roused in ALL of us?
It wasn't just a handful of American scientists shut-away in some concrete bunker somewhere who were inspired but the images, but everyone who saw the Horsehead Nebula, the Cartwheel Galaxy and its Deep Field Mosaic felt the same sense of wonder. Perhaps, when we view the very beginnings of the Universe we are seeing the fingerprints of God. Who knows? But it sure looks awesome!
Here's a link to an index of great Hubble pictures:
http://www.seds.org/hst/hst.html
You should check it out. The things we have seen with that "obsolete" piece of hardware floating around the planet is enough to bring a tear to the eye of even the most fervently anti-space-exploration conservative doo-doo head around.