[APML] HST update

["Greg Hartke" <ghartke@adelphia.net>]

For those interested, I checked with one of my friends at STScI today to see
if there was any news. Here's his report.

Greg Hartke
Sykesville, MD

Just got out of an all-hands meeting, where Sen. Milkulski gave a talk.
Mikulski gave mostly a pep talk.  She basically just explained how she got
O'Keefe to agree to ask Admiral Gehman to review the cancellation decision,
but warned that she did not want to raise any false hopes.  The Institute
has a group that is assigned the task of extending the mission without SM4.
Most of the ideas involve the two-gyro control system now being developed.
The system would unavoidably limit the type of observations that could be
done.  The possibility of actually going to two-gyro mode early to save a
good gyro is on the table.  The other problem is the batteries.  They are
getting old, and probably place the real limitation on the life of HST.
Unlike the geosynchronous International Ultraviolet Explorer that I worked
on, Hubble goes through shadow during every orbit.  Scenarios for cycling
various instruments are being considered, even to the point of taking
exposures only in sunlight.

There have also been ideas about how to service Hubble without the shuttle.
Frankly, most of them are not technically likely as even the Institute
people recognize.  They involve either a robotic servicing mission or
changing the HST orbit so that it is similar to the Space Station's orbit.
The mission would be an extremely sophisticated one for a robot to perform,
and an out of plane orbit change is very difficult to do.  Both options
would be expensive.  Most of the effort is therefore going into getting NASA
to reconsider its decision on SM4 or planning to survive as long as possible
without it.

The Institute Director circulated ESA's Director of Science Programs
statement on the SM4 cancellation.  Apparently there have been some
anti-American statements made over there.  The ESA statement though is a
very reasonable and moderate one, and basically acknowledges that since NASA
flies the manned vehicle, NASA gets to make the call.


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