HST During Constellation

[Master of Blades]

Something just struck me... how will the Hubble Space Telescope be served, after the Space Shuttle has been retired? I have the feeling that the lack of an SRMS would complicate the repairwork...

 

[pete.dakota]

STS-125 is the last planned service mission to the Hubble. It's expected to be de-orbited when it stops producing useful science. Probably within 10 years of 125, I would say.

 

[spcefrk]

The James Webb Telescope will replace it IIRC.

 

[pete.dakota]

The James Webb Telescope will replace it IIRC.

That's not it's designation or purpose, though. The James Webb will not be able to see visible light. It will only be able to see IR. Whereas the Hubble can see visible, near-IR and UV.

 

[silent_protagonist]

I imagine NASA could service the HST or another LEO satellite with Orion if they decided they really needed to. It would probably require at least a mission module with an airlock and some means grappling the sat, which would mean two launches if NASA sticks with the current Ares I design. You also still occasionally hear talk of using Orion to service Earth-Sun L2 satellites (like the JWST), replacing the lunar lander on top of the Ares V with whatever equipment you would need. (Does anyone know what the delta-v is to L2?)

Of course I doubt if any of this would actually happen, but I think the capability is there.

The James Webb Telescope will replace it IIRC.

That's not it's designation or purpose, though. The James Webb will not be able to see visible light. It will only be able to see IR. Whereas the Hubble can see visible, near-IR and UV.

That's true about JWST not being a complete replacement; it's more an upgrade from Spitzer than a replacement for Hubble. I guess they just decided that they weren't getting enough science from the visible spectrum to justify the expense, but it'll be a shame to see it go. I still say that NASA's budget woes would be solved if they were allowed to charge royalties for Hubble pictures. ( I suppose it's worth mentioning, though, that a lot of Hubble's targets are far enough away that what would be visible light up close has been redshifted to IR by the time it gets to us, so in a sense you are still seeing "true to life" images.)

 

[Andy44]

It was decided to put a docking clamp on JWST so that Orion could clamp onto it, but this is only for very limited tasks, since JWST is not designed to be serviced. The parts are not designed to be removed and replaced once the vehicle ships to the launchpad on JWST; Hubble was purposely built modular for servicing in bulky spacesuits.

 

[ijuin]

Many of the non-replaceable components of Hubble will be wearing out or extremely obsolete by the time it shuts down for good. What we should do is use a Delta-IV to launch a Hubble II.