Closing a Window On the Universe (washingtonpost.com)
The Hubble telescope is about the size of a large tractor-trailer and fits into the cargo hold of the space shuttle, which is how it was carried aloft in 1990. It orbits the Earth once every 97 minutes, cost $1.5 billion to build and deploy and now operates on about a $250 million annual budget.

By any scientific measure, it has been the most successful astronomical exercise in history. Images sent back to Earth from Hubble have helped scientists determine the age of the universe. In 1995, Hubble was pointed at the same patch of sky for 10 days and programmed to take long exposures. What Hubble captured with those images enabled scientists to find at least 1,500 galaxies at various stages of evolution. Some of the galaxies were 10 billion light-years away.

Another black mark on the Bush legacy. $250 mil a year is cheap for the "most successful astronomical exercise in history."

I hope we can find some funding for the new 'scope that was scheduled to replace it, but why do I get the feeling there won't be any money for that, either?