Hubble

Table of contents.
1-2Introduction.
2Problems.
3Current Situation.
4-6Plan, Qualified organizations for the project, Cost Benefit Analysis.
7Cost Benefit Analysis, Conclusion.
Appendix.

Introduction.
On April 24th, 1990, a shuttle was sent into space with a space observatory that is known
as the Hubble Space Telescope. According to NASA, this telescope is 43.5ft long with a mirror
that is 7ft 10.5inches tall, weighing in at 24,500lbs. The telescope also hosts an impressive array
of scientific instruments, including according to NASA, the ACS Advanced Camera for
Surveys, used for Surveys and broad imaging, the NICMOS Near Infrared Camera/MultiObject Spectrometer , (basically a fancy imager for infrared light and other measurement ). And
the STIS Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, (another imaging device). (NASA)These
instruments on the telescope, and its placement above the distortions of the earths atmosphere
for over twenty years have given us a window into the past, present and future of our world, the
universe, and worlds around us. From what happens with stars, to the earliest images of the
universe. We as a race of intelligent beings because of the Hubble Space Telescope have been
able to gain an understanding that we would never have achieved without it.
This telescope gave a window to mankind that has not been since replicated in scope and
scale. The observations and discoveries that were achieved with Hubble has forever made this
telescope apart of our cultural Identity. One such discovery was made in 1996. According to
deepastronomy.com, astronomers had found a spot that looked as if there was nothing there.
Yet because they had the means and resource to do it, out of curiosity they pointed the Hubble
Space Telescope at that spot, and let the light come into Hubble for 10 days, and sure enough, as
much as 3,000 galaxies appeared. This helped us age our universe more accurately and gave us a
greater sense of Identity and understanding. (deepastronomy.com). Though despite this extreme
service, the Hubble is subject to the problem of all mechanical and electronic things, Hubble has
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become out dated and is shutting down. Also Hubbles orbit is decaying, and this will lead
eventually to the destruction of Hubble in 2024. In this proposal, we will tackle these problems,
and propose to make Hubble a monument for future generations.

Problems.
1. Hubble is becoming very outdated when it comes to technology. It is too costly to fix. It
has already cost 10 billion to fix past problems and do maintenance.
2. Though Hubble is situated above the atmosphere, the telescope sits in a very high level of
atmosphere known as the Thermosphere, as Hubble orbits the earth; the thermosphere
causes drag on Hubble. Which causes the orbit to decay because of friction, eventually
Hubble will stop orbiting around the earth, and will fall from its orbit and burn up. The
image below displays the level of atmosphere Hubble sits in.

Current Situation.
To solve this problem, the plan currently is let Hubble burn, hardly a solution
considering Hubbles importance. Also a ring was installed on the Hubble for either a manguided craft or robotic vessel to go up and grab Hubble to guide it in a safe trajectory to burn.
A replacement telescope is scheduled to launch in 2018 known as the James Webb Space
Telescope, (JWST). This telescope is meant to look mostly into what is called the dark
ages, the period of time between the Big bang, and the period of time where the formation
of the earliest galaxies took place. This is where there is supposed to be the earliest formation
of stars, we have no data concerning this period of time. The James Webb Space Telescope
has a segmented mirror made up of 18 pieces. The pieces all together make up a mirror that
is 21.3feet in diameter. This telescope houses the same instruments as the Hubble and can do
more scientifically, but has a limited range concerning visible light. Also this telescope is
placed farther away from the earth in what is known as the L2 orbit, 151.5 million km from
the sun, 1.5 million km from earth. Though wonderful for observation, if the JWST breaks or
doesnt work properly after it is deployed, that far out there is no chance of fixing it. It costs
8.7 billion dollars to just launch the JWST. Below are some graphics about the JWST and its
distances.

Plan
As it is too expensive to fix Hubble due to its aging technology, and cost, but seeing as
Hubble has become a part of our cultural Identity, I would propose to make Hubble a monument
by pushing Hubble up and out of its decaying orbit. And either place it in a stationary orbit above
the earth, or seeing as we have the data and knowhow from the Apollo missions, place it around
the Moon. The first step would be to procure a rocket; the Ariane 5 ECA rocket would be the
most be useful because this particular rocket is the vehicle taking the JWST out to the L2
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orbit. The next segment from http://jwst.nasa.gov/launch.html explains the rocket beautifully:
The Launch Segment has 3 primary components:
1. Launch Vehicle: an Ariane 5 with the cryogenic upper stage. It will be provided in the single
launch configuration, with a long payload fairing providing a maximum 4.57 meter static
diameter and useable length of 16.19 meters.
2. Payload Adapter, comprising the Cone 3936 plus ACU 2624 lower cylinder and clamp-band,
which provides the separating mechanical and electrical interface between the Webb
Observatory and the Launch Vehicle.
3. Launch campaign preparation and launch campaign.
The launch campaign preparation and launch campaign is the mutual responsibility of NASA,
ESA, NGAS, and Arianespace.

The next step would be to modify this rocket to slow down and grab Hubble. If you look
at the break down pictures above, the JWST sits in the up most part of the rocket, that
platform just below could be fitted with clamps that fit the ring on the back end of the
Hubble, The next step is to do a controlled burn to Hubble, but not enough to damage Hubble
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when contact is made by having retro rocket fire as you approach, connect, then using the
data from the Apollo missions, align the Hubble and rocket, and fire it to a safe orbit around
the moon. As shown in the diagram below.

This would save Hubble as a monument for generations, all you would have to do to see
Hubble, is look to the moon.

Qualified organizations for the project.

1. NASA, due to that organizations successful execution of the Apollo missions and other
space endeavors including Hubble.
2. ESA (European Space Agency) for their work on the JWST and other projects in space.
Such as the Herschel Space Telescope.

Cost benefit analysis.

The cost to launch the JWST is right now at 8.7 billion dollars, the overall cost of Hubble
has been about 10 billion. If you take $8.7 billion rounded to $9 billion divide that by the
distance from the earth 1.5 million km, rounded down to 1 million km. you find it costs
$9,000 dollars per km to fly the JWST to the L2 orbit, 615,600 km from the moon. To place
Hubble around the moon on the same budget, doing the same math with the distance from the
earth to the moon, 384,400 km would cost $4,271.10 per km to get Hubble to the moon.
Times that figure by the distance to the moon the cost to get Hubble there would be
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$1,641,810,840.00, round up to 2 billion. Unfortunately bringing Hubbles cost to 12 billion

over all. But the knowledge that Hubble has given us is worth more in the sense that it
spurred us on to make and discover more than what we would have done without. Multiple
space telescopes including the JWST have been made, their cost equaling more than the cost
of Hubble. The JWST is costing 8.7 billion now, and other telescopes adding their launch
costs make it worthwhile to place Hubble around the moon.

Conclusion.
I believe that Hubble should be saved based on the Importance of it to our culture, and the
relatively small cost that it would take in putting it around the moon. Seeing as its taking
over four times the amount that has been incurred with the James Webb Space Telescope
project. Hubble needs to be saved, we would be nowhere without it.

Appendix A: Works Cited.

Darnell, Tony. http://www.deepastronomy.com/. N/A N/A N/A. 10 December
2013<http://www.deepastronomy.com/hubble-deep-field-3d.html>.NASA. http:///jwst.nasa.gov/.
N/A N/A N/A. 10 December 2013 <http://jwst.nasa.gov/about.html>.

. http://hubblesite.org/. N/A N/A 2002? 12/10/13

December 2013<http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/>.

. http://www.nasa.gov/. 29 April 2010. 11/23/13-12/10/13 November-December

2013<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html >.

. http://www.nasa.gov/. 6 March 2012. 10

December 2013<http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/629955main_RHoward_JWST_3_6_12.pdf>.
http://jwst.nasa.gov/comparison.html#orbit
http://jwst.nasa.gov/launch.html
http://jwst.nasa.gov/facts.html