Hubble Telescope is down- Launch delayed

[KC-97HORN]

Hubble's transmission software crashed Saturday night.

The launch that was scheduled for 2 weeks from now just got majorly delayed because it may end up being a completely extra fix that the shuttle crew is going to have to do.

NASA isnt even sure they can fix it with the delay
The Link

In reply to:

---

---

 

[mia1994]

My concern about Hubble has been that NASA was going to walk away from a successful mission when the primary asset was already in place. That said, if they've had a critical stop, then I think this is probably a pretty good point to step away from the project. It has already surpassed its scheduled life cycle, and since it has gone up we have added several other space telescopes (IR and X-Ray), and I believe another optical scope is already in the works (though without the shuttle, I'm not sure how that gets up there).

It is a shame to have to say goodbye, but it may well be time. Maybe by ending with something like this can speed up the timelines on other projects. This could end up being a very good thing scientifically.

 

[53 Veer Pass]

Why walk away from something that still has unique capability? The ability to fix whatever is wrong exists, and there will be little marginal cost since the servicing mission is ready to go. We'd be walking away from something that still has plenty of utility. We've done that far too many times in the space program.

 

[MaduroUTMB]

How can a software issue take the whole thing down? If worse came to worse, they could replace the chip with the memory on it.

 

[mia1994]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[mia1994]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[A. BETTIK]

What doe it cost to launch a shuttle, $400 million? How much space does the fix take up in the cargo hold?

If there is a lot of extra space per above, why not merge the Hubble mission with an ISS mission, park the stuff, boost Hubble's orbit and take the money saved and develop an ISS dependent vehicle to ferry Dexter to the Hubble to carry out the mission remotely.

 

[53 Veer Pass]

I'll say it again: there is little money to be saved from cancelling the servicing mission. It's already been spent for the most part. I know, I worked on one of the servicing missions in 1997. Yeah, it's risky, but we've got people who are willing to do it, so that doesn't fly. It's in orbit, the servicing mission will fix it, and it'll work again. No reason to turn it off.

You can't combine a Hubble mission and an ISS mission. The inclination of the orbits is vastly different, so you can't transfer from one orbit to the other.

 

[UT Horn Fan]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[MadTrapper]

It'll be awesome once the JWST is operational. That thing is a pure marvel of science and engineering.

JWST

 

[OldHippie]

I agree about trying to adjust the telescope orbit so eventually it would rendezvous with the ISS. It would be like parking an old junker car in your front yard till you could get the parts to fix it. Joe 6-pack could relate to that.

 

[53 Veer Pass]

In reply to:

---

---