Re: Hubble 2 (was Space Shuttle Grounding....depressing....
Iain Rae wrote:
Andrew Swallow wrote:
Iain Rae wrote:
Andrew Swallow wrote:
Iain Rae wrote:
Andrew Swallow wrote:
Josh Hill wrote:
<snip>
But you're assuming that the budget for the shuttles is all overheads,
if there's only one shuttle launch in a year then you've saved money on
consumables, staff time etc.
I based my figure on
total cost of program (~$145 billion)/no of flights (113).
Where the cost of consumables drops below 10% of the cost
approximations can ignore them.
I doubt that the consumables do. The 2002 budget (first one I could
find) has the shuttle budget listed at $3,283,800,000 with the flight
hardware cost set at $2,067,200,000. The external tank production alone
cost $287,900,000 which is about 9% of the budget.
The suspension of launches means that on the same budget
NASA has bought 1 tank instead of about 10.
<snip>
3. is the big unknown, hubble cost $2billion to build new, you could
presumably use the kodak backup mirror and the repair parts to cut costs
but you'd have to rework the various systems that have been used over
the last 25 years or so which is going to add to the costs. Again
assuming that you'd get a free Atlas 5 to launch it you're going to have
to construct it for <$1.3 billion for it to be cheaper than the shuttle
repair. If this was possible then I would expect NASA to have considered
it as an option rather than going ahead with a feasibility study for the
robotic repair which would be more risky and cost more.
A space repair robot is useful in its own right.
but you're not getting a space repair robot, you're getting a robotic
repair mission specifically tailored to hubble. i.e. rather than
developing a robot that could be used to swap out the batteries they
were proposing to have a wraparound module that plugged into hubble's
external power connector.
They will get it right in the end. Possibly on a later
mission.
The batteries and gyroscopes are just the start.
no, they're the end, the batteries are the last components to be
replaced in hubbles power system and the gyroscopes need one more
replacement before hubble hits it's extended design life.
Only because Hubble is due to die in 5 years time.
It was orignally designed to die around about now.
True. One of the readers of this news group should be
giving Hubble 2 its pre-launch inspection.
Its facilities are already wearing out. For instance
the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) was
fitted in 1997 and failed last August.
Which if you follow your "better to replace than repair" path means
you'd have to chuck a new hubble up every 7 years or so.
If that is the limit of our technology, that is the
limit of our technology. Replacements have to be
allowed for in the budgets. However I suspect that
we can build space telescopes that last 10 to 15 years.
Andrew Swallow
.
Relevant Pages
- Re: Space Shuttle Grounding....depressing....
... Hubble is also wearing out. ... >> The average shuttle mission costs a little over $1 billion. ... > Since shuttle launches are restricted they are now heavily ... That's a political decision not a cost related one. ...
(rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated) - Re: Hubble 2 (was Space Shuttle Grounding....depressing....
... >> total cost of program /no of flights. ... The 2002 budget (first one I could ... >> presumably use the kodak backup mirror and the repair parts to cut costs ... repair mission specifically tailored to hubble. ...
(rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated) - Whats New - Friday, August 27, 2004 - Bob Park
... There's growing optimism at NASA about sending a robot to repair ... The big problem may be finding the money, with early cost ... to Hubble might cost as much as a manned shuttle flight. ... to take US astronauts to the ISS. ...
(sci.physics) - NASA says Hubble repair mission is a go
... NASA will send a space shuttle to repair the 16-year-old Hubble Space ... his predecessor's decision to nix the mission. ...
(sci.space.shuttle) - Re: OT?: Goodbye to an era
... Hubble didn't need space shuttles. ... telescopes for the cost of each shuttle repair mission. ... the Shuttle and Space Station soak it all up. ... mirror grinder could have spotted the error in the mirror. ...
(sci.electronics.design) |
|
