Will Hubble II ever launch?

[Overmind5000]

I was thinking what is The hubble telescope was damaged beyond repair and there is no hope into repairing it? Should they bring it down to Earth and repair and upgrade it, Or should they send up a better, more advanced telescope called the Hubble II?

 

[pete.dakota]

JWT.

 

[Ghostrider]

They'd have to send up a better and more advanced scope. After Challenger, the concept of bringing down sats with the Shuttle was pretty much scrubbed, and there aren't enough Shuttle missions left to bring it down AND put it back there.
The next generation Hubble will probably be launched on a Delta or Ares unmanned derivative. It remains to be seen if it can be serviced properly with the Orion.

 

[JamesG]

But the Webb is an IR telescope. No more cool true color pictures.

I don't think the Hubble was designed to ever return to Earth.

 

[Ghostrider]

But the Webb is an IR telescope. No more cool true color pictures.

That's why we have false colour. :lol:

I don't think the Hubble was designed to ever return to Earth.

Read somewhere they planned to return it to Earth and hang it up on the Smithsonian, but that was a long long time ago, in a galaxy far away.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

It now has solid solar panels instead of the roll-out ones it launched with so I doubt it could be brought back down without ripping the panels off.

 

[Pilot7893]

Why not make it an orbital museum?

 

[pete.dakota]

Why not make it an orbital museum?

Suggested donation: 20 million USD?

Orbital museum = space junk. Leaving a non functioning, bus sized satellite in LEO would only pose a risk.

 

[Ghostrider]

Why not make it an orbital museum?

That would be nice. If we can sell enough tickets we might even find a way to get visitors up there. :speakcool:

 

[Pilot7893]

Suggested donation: 20 million USD?

Orbital museum = space junk. Leaving a non functioning, bus sized satellite in LEO would only pose a risk.

Hubble is a piece of history. It prooved the concept of an orbital observatory. It would be a shame for it to disintigrate in the atmosphere like Skylab or Mir.

 

[pete.dakota]

Hubble is a piece of history. It prooved the concept of an orbital observatory. It would be a shame for it to disintigrate in the atmosphere like Skylab or Mir.

It wouldn't be a shame at all. And pride shouldn't enter into it. The Hubble's orbit will decay on it's own (yes, even at 600km), and so would need boosts (i.e, launch(es) to attach rockets). It will wind up disintegrating anyway. So there's no use leaving it up, tumbling around the Earth, posing a risk to current and future, manned and unmanned flights.

 

[Kyle]

James Webb Space Telescope will replace Hubble.

 

[garyw]

I'll second Pete.Dakota - The ATV could be considered history but it was consigned to a fireball and so will be the ISS when it's time is done. Why keep something that is junk? The concept of an Orbital telescope was proven long before Hubble was launched.

 

[agentgonzo]

STS-125 will add a "soft capture mechanism" to Hubble to allow something to dock to it to deorbit it at the end of its life. NASA is intending to deorbit it and burn it up.

 

[Ghostrider]

A pity we can't put a good stage on it, sling it into a translunar trajectory, image the Apollo landing sites and then crash it into Bart Sibrel's car.

 

[TSPenguin]

A pity we can't put a good stage on it, sling it into a translunar trajectory, image the Apollo landing sites and then crash it into Bart Sibrel's car.

It would be way more usefull to send it along a nice slingshot tour of the solar system.
At what distance to the sun will the solar panels stop providing enough power to operate it?

 

[Urwumpe]

At what distance to the sun will the solar panels stop providing enough power to operate it?

Currently about Mars distance, in 10 years, even Earth will not be enough anymore.

 

[TSPenguin]

Currently about Mars distance, in 10 years, even Earth will not be enough anymore.

*sigh*

 

[ryan]

I think we have seen all we can see with Hubble it has a maybe 8 more years until deorbit, i think its succeeded its flight duration estimate, its been more of nuisance than we could ever imagine. Webb will come along and see things that hubble couldnt but then again hubble can see some things that Webb cannot. Oh well soon we might even be seeing not via telescope but via eye.

 

[Urwumpe]

I think we have seen all we can see with Hubble it has a maybe 8 more years until deorbit, i think its succeeded its flight duration estimate, its been more of nuisance than we could ever imagine. Webb will come along and see things that hubble couldnt but then again hubble can see some things that Webb cannot. Oh well soon we might even be seeing not via telescope but via eye.

Actually that is not true. There are 20% of the sky, where optical telescopes like Hubble can't look (because of our own Galaxy). But IR telescopes, like the JWST, can watch into half of these 20%, seeing 90% of the Sky. And these 10% more are important, as many phenomena happen right in this region of the sky.