An Open Letter To NASA

Hey NASA!

You are going to spend over a billion dollars on fixing Hubble with a robot? What are the odds you will get the money? What are the odds if you get the money that this will work? Bookies in Nevada are probably loving all this!

You already have men in orbit on a semi-permanent basis at the International Space Station (ISS). They have little to do since you cancelled most of their scientific chores (and cancelled most of the rest of the expanded space station, too).

I am being dumb here by asking an obvious question. What would it cost you to put a booster on Hubble and move it over to the Space Station?

Even if such a short trip were to put some of Hubble’s instruments into disarray, you have a couple of guys at the Space Station who could probably set things in order fairly quickly.

Hubble orbits the Earth about every 97 minutes at an altitude of about 353 miles (569 kilometers). Hubble passes into the shadow of the Earth each orbit for about 28-36 minutes. The orbit is inclined at 28.5 degrees to the Equator. This was also the inclination of the Space Shuttle that deployed Hubble in 1990.

International Space Station orbits the earth about every 91 minutes at an altitude of 249 miles (371 kilometers). Its orbit is inclined 51.63 degrees to the Equator.

What these numbers mean is that a booster rocket to move Hubble to the ISS might be a tough burn. NASA, you would probably burn out a few computers figuring it out. But that’s what you do best, right?

I know. The light over at the Space Station is bad, or its the wrong altitude, or on the wrong side of the world.

Perhaps being next to the Space Station might mess with some of its delicate instruments.

But you know what? At least Hubble could still work and not die of neglect or be left to burn up in a pitiful re-entry because the robot you want to build didn’t quite work.

I bet (that word again) the cost of moving Hubble to the Space Station is a small fraction of what you are planning to spend on fixing it.

The Space Station even gets regular visits from earth with big metal cans full of supplies and equipment on a regular basis.

They got one today, in fact.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1176625.htm

Humm. Wonder if those metal cans are big enough to put some of Hubble’s busted replacements in there?

Sheesh! Youse guys are all PhDs and brilliant engineers. Why can’t you figure out a fast, simple and cheap fix for Hubble like I just did? Love to hear from you.

Regards,
Roger Born