jeff findley wrote in
:

(Hallerb) writes:

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=11956

Could hubble be reactivated at this location in the future once we
get a new manned vehicle operational?

If the CEV has the capability to go to the moon, a trip to 2,500 km
wouldn't be out of the question.

2500 km is right smack dab in the worst part of the inner Van Allen belt.
HST's solar arrays will degrade quickly in this environment, and its
avionics will fry.

Like Apollo, CEV will likely only be shielded for quick passage through the
belts. (I foresee that Mars missions will use a dedicated "storm shelter"
rather than having the crew stay in the CEV). A manned servicing mission,
especially one requiring EVAs, would be quite impractical, if not
impossible. Even a robotic servicing mission would be quite challenging,
due to the lack of navaids on HST and the extensive servicing HST would
need to repair radiation-related damage.

On the other hand, a 2500 km orbit won't decay for centuries, if not
millennia. This isn't a "storage orbit" in any meaningful sense. It's a
disposal orbit, as Allen called it.

--
JRF

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