NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland is now reviewing ideas from a variety of groups, including university and major aerospace firms. According to SPACE.com sources, Goddard has received 27 proposals ranging from a few pages to one tome of 200 pages length from a leading aerospace firm.
The proposals are in response to a Goddard "Request for Information" on Hubble Space Telescope End of Mission Alternatives in February, with the NASA center receiving the proposals March 22. At present, a review of submitted ideas and discussions with proposal groups is actively underway.
NASA spokesman, Don Savage, told SPACE.com that the request resulted in ideas from mostly industry, but did include views from other government agencies, academia, as well as a private citizen. Savage said that the ideas are now being evaluated.
However, while the submittals are now being reviewed, any go-ahead on a robotic servicing scheme for Hubble is far from assured.
Robot ties to Moon, Mars and beyond
At the core of extending Hubble operations is just how robust methods and technologies are at this point to carry out a robotic servicing mission. Such firms as Lockheed Martin and Ball Aerospace are among teams scoping out how best to extend the life of Hubble.
According to one aerospace executive source, the robotic servicing of Hubble fits in well with NASAs Moon, Mars, and beyond plans -- in terms of pushing forward wider use and adoption of robots for beyond Earth orbit exploration purposes.
At Goddard, an internal panel of experts is assessing the feasibility of telerobotically changing out Hubble astronomical instruments. Also, an attachable package of batteries and gyroscopes that can be mounted on Hubble, done via robotic servicing, is being considered.
Lightning rod decisions
The look at how best to extend Hubbles useful scientific life has been spurred by a NASA decision to cancel a June 2006 servicing mission by astronauts to the space-based telescope. Furthermore, the observatorys retrieval by a space shuttle at the end of its mission is no longer an option, according to the space agency.
In making those judgments, NASA Administrator, Sean OKeefe, has become a lightning rod for both political and public criticism. NASA policy requires the safe disposal of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). As the eye on the Universe whirls about Earth, it is now headed for an uncontrolled reentry into Earths atmosphere no earlier than the year 2013.
At present, Hubbles projected battery life is the principal limiting factor for overall observatory lifetime. It is expected that HST will not be totally stationary in inertial space at the end of its life in orbit.
Dump or boost?
NASA's plan is to maximize HST's scientific productivity through the remainder of the mission by extending its useful productive lifetime and sustaining its unique scientific capabilities as long as possible.
Once the HST science program is no longer viable, the plan is to either dump the facility in a controlled manner into the ocean or boost the observatory to a safe parking orbit -- over 1,550 miles ((2,500 kilometers) altitude above Earth. To do so requires use of a still-to-be-built and checked out propulsion module that would be attached to Hubble.
In this scenario, the propulsion stage would be lofted on an expendable launch vehicle. It would then rendezvous, capture, and dock with the HST. Once those actions are complete, the telescope can be nudged into a controlled reentry or boosted to the higher safe parking orbit.
According to a Goddard document, there may be advantages to performing the deorbit or orbit boost immediately after the completion of science operations, which could be as early as 2007 or 2008.
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