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Hey SpaceX, here's an idea: put a few of your 'Atlas' robots on one of the upcoming Starship test vehicles - maybe the one where you plan to test in-orbit refue

Hey SpaceX, here's an idea: put a few of your 'Atlas' robots on one of the upcoming Starship test vehicles - maybe the one where you plan to test in-orbit refuelling since it probably takes a bit of extra fuel to get to Hubble's orbit - and get the thing to meet up with Hubble. Have the robots replace the failed gyros, replace the batteries and whatever other consumables that old relic contains. Have them take back the old parts in Starship so they can be studied. The result would be revived Hubble as well as one of the biggest PR coups imaginable. Or, maybe, one of the biggest hits against human space flight if it turns out robots can do the job well enough not to have to send up their meat-based masters, take your pick.

toomuchtodo 2y ago
Would Hubble fit in Starship for a return flight to ground? Would look nice hanging in the Smithsonian. Flight proven space observatory.
lupusreal 2y ago
What even is the point of looking at space if we give up the pretext of sending people there? It just turns into an expensive way to mint PhDs on the taxpayer's dime, studying things which cannot have economic relevance on Earth (which is why they can't be studied on Earth.)
- arlort 2y ago
  There's more important things in the universe than those which have economic relevance. In fact studying things which have no apparent economic relevance is one of the best uses of government dime and has been so, to the great benefit of humanity as a whole, for centuries if not millennia
Laremere 2y ago
Jared Isaacman and SpaceX already made a proposal to NASA to do a Hubble servicing mission. NASA recently responded with "no thanks". NASA feels the risk of potentially damaging Hubble in some way (eg, gas from thruster getting on a mirror) outweighs the benefits. Basically a high probability of worse performance is chosen to be more favorable than a lower probability of better performance.
SJC_Hacker 2y ago
Or a bigger challenge - safely deorbit Hubble so it could be fixed/refurbished on the ground. Or maybe put in a museum if they didn't feel it was worth it the cost of sending it back up again

toomuchtodo 2y ago

Would Hubble fit in Starship for a return flight to ground? Would look nice hanging in the Smithsonian. Flight proven space observatory.

lupusreal 2y ago

What even is the point of looking at space if we give up the pretext of sending people there? It just turns into an expensive way to mint PhDs on the taxpayer's dime, studying things which cannot have economic relevance on Earth (which is why they can't be studied on Earth.)

arlort 2y ago
There's more important things in the universe than those which have economic relevance. In fact studying things which have no apparent economic relevance is one of the best uses of government dime and has been so, to the great benefit of humanity as a whole, for centuries if not millennia

Laremere 2y ago

Jared Isaacman and SpaceX already made a proposal to NASA to do a Hubble servicing mission. NASA recently responded with "no thanks". NASA feels the risk of potentially damaging Hubble in some way (eg, gas from thruster getting on a mirror) outweighs the benefits. Basically a high probability of worse performance is chosen to be more favorable than a lower probability of better performance.

SJC_Hacker 2y ago

Or a bigger challenge - safely deorbit Hubble so it could be fixed/refurbished on the ground. Or maybe put in a museum if they didn't feel it was worth it the cost of sending it back up again