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The cost assessment of service missions take into account all the experience gathered when performing them. Even if a replacement telescope is cheaper, you do n
by reacweb 8y ago
The cost assessment of service missions take into account all the experience gathered when performing them. Even if a replacement telescope is cheaper, you do not learn anything.
- SiempreViernes 8y agoWhat you learn is mainly about engineering challenges of servicing satellites though, and if that's not a cost effective solution due to launch costs it does not seem that important.
- GTP 8y agoI think it's still valuable since we have tons of waste in our orbit that has already proven to be problematic. Maybe it's not cost effective if you only consider the cost of sending a new satellite vs the costs of repairing an old one, but if you take into account the reduced waste and the problems you avoid by having a cleaner orbit it may be worth the extra money.
- SiempreViernes 8y agoDeorbiting is the reasonable way of keeping the orbit clean until there is actually anyone up there that can recycle in situ.
- bluGill 8y agoNo, you learn about servicing things in space. If we are to ever send humans far from earth (mars perhaps) they need to have the ability to service their craft should something break. If a satellite breaks in space sending a new one is probably the most cost effective thing to do. However I have a moral problem with the idea that humans sent to mars would be told to die if something goes wrong. That means the ability to repair the things that go wrong.