'Save the Hubble' campaign soars

Mr Ribeiro first heard about Hubble's demise from the internet.

'I sat in front of the monitor and stared at it for several minutes recollecting all the facts I knew about Hubble; its planning, building, the flawed mirror, the device to fix it, the book I had: Gems of the Hubble. I thought about the loss it meant to the whole human race.'

So www.savethehubble.com/ was born.

'I imagined that it could be a good idea to build up a site where people could voice their feelings and ideas about the whole story. My role would be to put together as many references as I could about the struggle to save the telescope.

'There has been an exponential growth of the public outcry in favour of the instrument, and it is just the beginning. Since the matter is obviously political, public pressure will certainly play a big role, especially in an election year.'

The petition will be sent to Nasa and US politicians.

'Let the voters say: 'We don't want to go to the Moon! We want to go to infinity and beyond!',' said Mr Ribeiro.

Go sign up and save the gyroscopes from spin.