[extropy-chat] Saving the Hubble

[Robert J. Bradbury]

Larry Klaes posted an interesting thought on the Europa list.

His idea was rather than to bring down the Hubble (at a cost
of $300M) to give it to the Chinese.  I'd expand on that
idea -- what about the Europeans, Russia, China or Japan?

If part of the problem is orbital decay -- then one could
focus in the short term on a ship (robotic if necessary)
to boost its orbit (both the Soyuz and Progress have boost
capability and the Russians have a good mastery for robotic
docking).  Then they could figure out how to use
some space walks to do things like replace the gyroscopes
and instruments.  Russian and Chinese astronauts would
certainly jump at the opportunity to pick up a $1+B piece
of in-orbit hardware real cheap.  Perhaps a mini-Canada robotic
arm or two could be developed to assist with maintenance.
Yes, I know the Hubble was designed with servicing in the
Shuttle Bay in mind *but* that doesn't mean that in-space
servicing is impossible.  Probably very little thought has
been devoted to the idea.

If you are going to turn the ISS over to foreign partners
why not do it with the Hubble as well?  I'm sure NASA wouldn't
mind saving the $300M deorbiting expense.

If the Soyuz doesn't have the lift capacity, then send an
Ariane 5 up with a European cargo module containing the gyroscopes,
new instruments, etc. and a Soyuz with the astronauts to do the
maintenance.

The only question in my mind is whether the Ariane 5
or the Soyuz (perhaps launched from Kourou) can reach
the orbit the Hubble is in?  Anyone know?

Robert