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Author
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Topic: NASA considering robotic servicing mission to Hubble
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Jacques van Oene Member Posts: 861 From: Houten, The Netherlands Registered: Oct 2001
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posted 06-01-2004 05:42 PM
Don Savage Headquarters, Washington June 1, 2004 (Phone: 202/358-1727)Susan Hendrix Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/286-7745) RELEASE: 04-173 NASA CONSIDERING ROBOTIC SERVICING MISSION TO HUBBLE NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced the agency's decision to pursue the feasibility of a robotic servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). NASA initiated the first step toward enabling such a mission with the release of a Request for Proposals today. The due date for proposal submissions is July 16, 2004. "This is the first step in a long process of developing the best options to save Hubble," Administrator O'Keefe said. "We are on a tight schedule to assure a Hubble servicing mission toward the end of calendar year 2007. But we must act promptly to fully explore this approach." Although the primary goal of a robotic mission is to install a deorbit module on the HST, NASA is studying the feasibility of performing other tasks. The tasks could include installing new batteries, gyros and possibly science instruments that would enhance the observatory's ability to peer even more deeply into the universe. The final decision about specific robotic tasks will be made after all proposals have been thoroughly reviewed. For HST images and information on the Internet, visit: http://hubblesite.org For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit: http://www.nasa.gov -end- ---------------------------
Jacques :-) www.spacepatches.info |
spaceuk Member Posts: 2113 From: Staffs, UK Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 06-02-2004 02:15 PM
Just plain daft !Willing to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars (on somewhat hazardous missions) but not willing fly the shuttle to Hubble at least one more time ? I don't want to see astronauts lives in danger any more than NASA or I would my own but spaceflight will always be fairly dangerous (- at least with today's technologies) To fly the 'extra' distance to Hubble is - in my book - no worse than flying to the ISS and docking. And, if really worried about an 'escape route' - why not take a Soyuz inside STS bay to Hubble ? Or , if to weighty - another propulsion unit for retro to get you to upper atmosphere heights for typical entry sequence? Its just gotta be cheaper and more achievable than plumbing the depths of robotics at this late stage in the game. But,better,just fly to the Hubble with STS as normal. I'm sure one or more crew would be willing take this 'risk' - just as they have before ? If they can get a pilot I'll come along as the payload specialist or mission specialist. |
DavidH Member Posts: 1217 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 06-02-2004 02:42 PM
It's not flying to Hubble that is inately dangerous. The discussion of danger is a consideration in the wake of the loss of Columbia and the STS-107 crew. If a problem such as the one that caused the loss of Columbia were to occur again, what could be done about it? NASA is currently developing protocols for dealing with that sort of situation on missions to the International Space Station. These plans would prevent the loss of the vehicle, or, at the very least, the crew, in the event of an emergency situation. Had a 107-type problem occurred on a Hubble servicing mission, there would have been very little that could have been done to save the crew, and nothing that could be done to save the vehicle. That situation remains more or less true today. Yes, spaceflight is inherently dangerous, but that doesn't mean that astronauts should still be flown in the same conditions that have already killed seven of their number.------------------ http://www.hatbag.net/blog.html "America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow." - Commander Eugene Cernan, Apollo 17 Mission, 11 December 1972 |
Rodina Member Posts: 836 From: Lafayette, CA Registered: Oct 2001
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posted 06-03-2004 01:46 AM
Great googley-moogley! The one thing the Space Shuttle is really good for -- fixing stuff in orbit -- is the one thing they won't use it for.Sigh. My eyes are turned entirely to Mojave. Let these guys prove a market for commercial suborbital flights, orbital flights will follow in 15 or so years. Then -- and only then -- will space flight get cheap. And then we can stop extruding the entire human exodus into space through a brain-dead Congress and a risk-paralyzed space agency. | |
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