Hubble - possible repair mission

[DaveL59]

Now this would be great if they can pull it off

Nasa, SpaceX study Hubble telescope re-boost mission - BBC News

Getting hubble back to a higher orbit and maybe patched up so it can last another 20-30 years given how well it has already done. Would be a bit more of a challenge tho compared to shuttle days.

[Marvin Jenkins]

Running shot gun visible light to JWST let’s hope something can be done. 
Far too valuable an asset to just let go to the atmosphere.

Marv

[Stu]

On 30/09/2022 at 07:55, DaveL59 said:

Now this would be great if they can pull it off

Nasa, SpaceX study Hubble telescope re-boost mission - BBC News

Getting hubble back to a higher orbit and maybe patched up so it can last another 20-30 years given how well it has already done. Would be a bit more of a challenge tho compared to shuttle days.

Thanks for that Dave. That certainly would be exciting, and the sort of thing I’m sure Mr Musk would like to be part of. As Marvin says, having the two scopes operating in tandem for as long as possible would be a major benefit.

[DaveL59]

Will be interesting to hear the plans, attaching a booster or giving it a bump would at least delay the inevitable drop into atmosphere, but if they can also swap out the failed gyros that'd really give it a good working extension. Let's hope he can afford it now he's pretty much forced into buying that social media platform.

[Paul M]

That would be an exciting mission and a mission with purpose. 

I guess some mods would be needed to the Dragon module to extend mission longevity beyond mere transport to ISS and as it is I think it would need an airlock module and workspace building because I don't think Dragon has an airlock of its own.

Maybe NASA could build an airlock module that Dragon could dock with in orbit.

IIRC, the Shuttle used the "Canadarm" to capture HSS during maintenance rendezvous. Another problem to overcome; tethering HSS to the service vehicle, whatever that may turn out to be.

The off-the-shelf Dragon doesn't immediately offer much to the proposed mission!

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Paul M

[CedricTheBrave]

Will be great if they can do it but I think it will be a job for starship when its up and running 

 

[Gfamily]

3 hours ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

Running shot gun visible light to JWST let’s hope something can be done. 
Far too valuable an asset to just let go to the atmosphere.

Marv

It seems the real 'irreplaceable' aspect is the ability to image in the UV - HST's performance in optical wavelengths can be pretty well matched using ground based adaptive optics, but its UV capability is not going to be matched until the deployment of the LUVOIR major space telescope in 2039. 

It would be interesting to see whether a combined power - stabilisation unit could be clamped to the HST to replace the functionality of the failing/failed inertial wheels. 

An interesting question is whether the torque dumping capability (in part currently done by interaction with the Earth's magnetic field) would continue to be effective if it was boosted to a significantly higher altitude.  Well, I have no doubt that it could be replicated, but it is an additional factor to contribute to the complexity