Alfred Montestruc wrote:
They have no capability to do that.

Well that is obviously false. They can get a large spacecraft into
orbit more reliably than we can at this point in time, and the big
issue with Hubble is her orbit is decaying. If they can get a large
spacecraft to join up with Hubble they can boost her into a higher
orbit. We supply the codes and any parts and supplies needed for
Hubble in excahnge for time on the telescope.
[snipper-snap]

No, it's quite true. Hubble is in the wrong orbit for
Russian rendezvous, Hubble cannot be serviced by the
Russians, and Hubble cannot be boosted by the Russians
without developing a new berthing adapter. Hubble also
needs to be boosted to an altitude higher than either
Soyuz or Progress is capable of reaching. Indeed, right
now Hubble is higher than either Soyuz or Progress can
reach easily, even ignoring the extreme orbital
inclination problems. Moreover, Hubble's orbital decay
is only one factor leading to its near demise, it is also
losing capability with its gyros. There are only four
reasonable options on the table: a servicing which
replaces, at least, the gyros and includes an orbital
boost; an orbital boost alone designed to preserve a dead
Hubble for future retrieval and placement in a museum;
letting it deorbit on its own and take the risk of
potential damage on the ground; a deorbit manouver. The
last is the only thing that could reasonably be done with
Russian equipment, and then only with a Soyuz launched
out of Kourou.