Exploring possibility of raising Hubble orbit and doing repairs

[Marc_G]

Interesting article on some concept work being done to see if boosting Hubble and possibly repairing things on it is feasible:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/science/nasa-hubble-spacex-polaris.html

 

[Funkworks]

Less paywalls, more rockets:

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-nasa-hubble-space-telescope-orbit-boost-study/

 

[Hobie1dog]

What a service life it has had.

 

[OverTheTop]

From the AIAA Daily mailout, 30SEP22:

NASA, SpaceX Studying Ways To Boost Hubble Telescope​

The New York Times (9/29) reports, “NASA announced on Thursday that it and SpaceX had signed an agreement to conduct a six-month study to see if one of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsules could be used to raise the altitude of the Hubble Space Telescope, potentially further extending the lifetime of the 32-year-old instrument.” SpaceX VP of Customer Operations and Integrations Jessica Jensen said, “What we want to do is expand the boundaries of current technology. We want to show how we use commercial partnerships as well as the public-private partnerships to creatively solve challenging and complex problem missions such as servicing Hubble.” The Times adds that a decision will need to be made either to boost Hubble or let it burn up on reentry by the end of the 2020s.

Reuters (9/29) reports that SpaceX founder Elon Musk is planning to fund the study.

Bloomberg (9/29) reports that despite the announcement of the study, NASA has yet to commit to an actual flight.

CBS News (9/29) reports that if the mission occurs, the Crew Dragon capsule will attempt to attach to the “soft capture mechanism” on the base of the telescope. Jared Isaacman, a technology entrepreneur who commanded the first commercial SpaceX mission, said, “There are specific objectives that we’re trying to achieve with each mission. Certainly, the idea of boosting and servicing Hubble, should the feasibility study support it, would be a logical second mission.” CBS adds that NASA says the study also will be used as a basis to see if this mission can be used for other satellites and objects in orbit.

CNN (9/29) reports that Jensen said SpaceX is attempting to rely on its experience docking with the ISS for this study.

SPACE (9/29) reports that Hubble project manager Patrick Crouse says that if the mission succeeds, the mission will add 15 to 20 years of life for Hubble.

 

[terryg]

It would be great to be able to boost and service Hubble. However it occurs to me that the lift capacity of the Starship would allow for an even larger optical telescope to be placed in orbit in the future. That might be a better long term solution.

 

[Peartree]

It would be great to be able to boost and service Hubble. However it occurs to me that the lift capacity of the Starship would allow for an even larger optical telescope to be placed in orbit in the future. That might be a better long term solution.

True. But Hubble took 20 years to plan and build, and Webb took 30, so doing something now is a good option to have as well.

 

[OverTheTop]

I could imagine Hubble getting a better camera/computer/communications system with any service.

If this keeps up there will need to be additional capability added to the DSN network for downloading the data. There is a lot going on out there and most of the data comes back via the DSN.
https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html

 

[Cape Byron]

I could imagine Hubble getting a better camera/computer/communications system with any service.

Good point. That SD card is probably full now.

 

[Peartree]

Doesn't Hubble need some new reaction wheels too?

 

[Marc_G]

I could imagine Hubble getting a better camera/computer/communications system with any service.

If this keeps up there will need to be additional capability added to the DSN network for downloading the data. There is a lot going on out there and most of the data comes back via the DSN.
https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html

I would imagine repairs would replace failed gyroscope/reaction wheels and other "routine service" parts but probably not major upgrades that would have huge development costs and higher failure risk.

 

[Peartree]

I would imagine repairs would replace failed gyroscope/reaction wheels and other "routine service" parts but probably not major upgrades that would have huge development costs and higher failure risk.

Maybe. Maybe not. I went to a talk by by Mike Massimino a couple years back and if I recall correctly, one of the problems that they had was that Hubble wasn't designed to be maintained. They found a work around but using the shuttle as a maintenance platform allowed them a lot of flexibility on what tools they can bring, etc. that may not be available if they have to squeeze everything through a hatch of a depressurized Dragon capsule. The unfortunate reality is that there may not be any upgrades or repairs at all and ONLY an orbital boost.

 

[Marc_G]

Maybe. Maybe not. I went to a talk by by Mike Massimino a couple years back and if I recall correctly, one of the problems that they had was that Hubble wasn't designed to be maintained. They found a work around but using the shuttle as a maintenance platform allowed them a lot of flexibility on what tools they can bring, etc. that may not be available if they have to squeeze everything through a hatch of a depressurized Dragon capsule. The unfortunate reality is that there may not be any upgrades or repairs at all and ONLY an orbital boost.

Great point. I'm not techie enough to know sizes of repair parts and tools.

I think it is great that they are exploring possibilities and I look forward to hearing the outcome in due course.

Another thought: could a separate, unmanned, SpaceX mission deposit into orbit a goodie box with parts and tools, that the crew capsule+ Hubble would rendezvous with? Presumably this will be looked at...

 

[Antares JS]

Another thought: could a separate, unmanned, SpaceX mission deposit into orbit a goodie box with parts and tools, that the crew capsule+ Hubble would rendezvous with? Presumably this will be looked at...

Not a good idea. You can't have it too close to Hubble as it would then become a hazard to the telescope, and if it's far away then it becomes impractical to access both it and the Hubble.

 

[rharshberger]

Not a good idea. You can't have it too close to Hubble as it would then become a hazard to the telescope, and if it's far away then it becomes impractical to access both it and the Hubble.

Or..make it a work module that docks to Hubble and the Crew Dragon docks to the module

 

[Antares JS]

Or..make it a work module that docks to Hubble and the Crew Dragon docks to the module

Hubble doesn't have a docking port, only a point for the Canadarm to grab it.

I also doubt the operators of the telescope would be too keen on having this work module hanging off the telescope for however long it takes for the crew to arrive.

 

[mjennings]

I think this is exciting, but having done a little work on the final mission to service HST (mostly unloading the returned hardware), I'm not sure of the feasibility of more than a reboost or minor external repairs.
1 I don't know the actual wights but the shuttle was much heavier than HST and Dragon. I'd guess Dragon would be heavier than HST but not by a lot. This would complicate repairs.
2 As stated HST was not designed for service, we made it work with the Shuttle but the payload bay had a lot of support equipment to hold HST in place and for the new stuff to ride up.
3 Dragon's trunk isn't huge, so what can go up is limited unless there us some form of multi launch rendezvous then on to HST. But that is complicated and maybe more DeltaV than available.

All that said I would love to be proved wrong. HST has been/is amazing and the science returns have been great. More science is good but everything does have to come to an end eventually.

 

[techrat]

Although we all love to think of these things as modular, flexible platforms onto which *anything* can be bolted, that's often not the case. That said, Hubble was built at a time where, although the shuttle was still fairly new, there were also a bunch of other designs on the board such as the Delta Clipper, that might have been factored in. Optic replacements are likely out of the question, but things like memory and processor boards can be swapped as those likely plug into a main bus. It can likely be re-fueled as well, although I'm not familiar with that procedure. Let's face it, it can still do science, even as-is, all it really needs is to be boosted so that it doesn't burn up.

 

[OverTheTop]

They found a work around but using the shuttle as a maintenance platform allowed them a lot of flexibility on what tools they can bring, etc. that may not be available if they have to squeeze everything through a hatch of a depressurized Dragon capsule.

The trunk area on Dragon has quite a bit of space available for replacement modules.

For anyone in the area of Goddard Spaceflight Center in Maryland it is worth dropping into the visitors center there. They have the examples of the cordless drill/driver and jigs used during the Hubble service mission.



One big problem was that it was never designed for service in space so they had to make all the screws captive before undoing them, or risk them floating into where they were not wanted. I suspect the new replacement camera has no such issues, since it was replaced in space, so another upgrade to the module wouldn't be out of the question.



These tools and jigs were works of art.