Re: Telemanipulator revolution at NASA?

From: Andrew Nowicki (andrew_at_nospam.com)
Date: 06/03/04 

Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 16:52:03 +0200

The James Webb Space Telescope will be 1.5 million
km away from Earth -- too far for human maintenance.
NASA's associate administrator for space science,
Ed Weiler, was considering making the James Webb
Space Telescope modular and using telemanipulators
to replace its worn-out parts.

I asked NASA if they were going to abandon the
James Webb Space Telescope when its batteries
and gyros wear out. Here is their reply:

        "At this point in time, NASA's management has not directed the
JWST project to change the design to make the spacecraft or
instruments more modular or serviceable. That's always subject to
change, of course. :-)

        The JWST currently has a design lifetime of 5-to-10 years, so
each of the pieces is being built with the expectation that it should
last for at least 10 years. In the case of JWST, the lifetime will
not be limited by batteries, since it will always be fully lit by the
Sun (unlike HST, which has a day/night cycle as it goes around the
Earth) and won't need to build up a power reserve for "night."

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