World Seed Bank - International Business News - Portfolio.com

World Seed Bank - International Business News - Portfolio.com

A Category 5 hurricane makes landfall, winds clocking in at 208 miles per hour. Eleven thousand die; there are $5 billion in damages; the region’s economy is set back 20 years. More bad news for the survivors: Crops, and therefore the food supply, have been destroyed. This isn’t a doomsday scenario: It happened in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch shredded large parts of Honduras and Nicaragua. But in a break with the usual devastating cycle of famine following a natural disaster, relief organizations worked with seed banks to supply farmers, saving lives and letting the agencies focus on problems like rebuilding the housing stock.

Hubble To Get Custom-Made Blankets

Goddard engineer Ben Reed studies a portion of a multi-layer blanket from Hubble, brought back to Earth after Servicing Mission 3A in 1999. Click image for enlargement. Credit: NASA

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 31, 2007
The Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4, scheduled for August 2008, aims to complete multiple upgrades and repairs, many of which are crucial for prolonging the telescope's operational life. One of the mission's many objectives is the refurbishment of its outer thermal blankets.

"Thermal blankets are to spacecraft as clothes are to people," says Mike Weiss, Hubble's technical deputy program manager. "Just as clothes cover our skin and help protect us from nature's elements...the cold winter wind and the scorching summer sun, thermal blankets protect Hubble from the harsh environment of space."

Hubble To Get Custom-Made Blankets