"Scott M. Kozel" wrote in
:

Is there a shuttle flight that would have utility and justification
independent of a HST return, that would take place at the correct time
and mission profile, when the HST has reached the end of its life?

Not on the current manifest, I'm afraid. All planned shuttle flights are
either to ISS or HST. They're in different inclinations so you can't visit
both on the same mission. Plus, the Orbiter Docking System takes up too
much room in the payload bay for HST to fit.

A hypothetical mission would have to be launched in HST's orbital plane
(28.5 degrees inclination) and leave the payload bay empty for HST return.
The latter rules out a Spacehab-type science mission, leaving only a
satellite deploy mission possible. And the space shuttle is legally
prohibited from performing satellite deploys that could be done by an ELV.


--
JRF

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