Rob Gutro
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. May 31, 2007
301-286-4044

NASA Pondering a Future Grapple on the James Webb Space Telescope

When it launches in 2013 the James Webb Space Telescope will settle in an
orbit roughly one million miles from the Earth. That distance is currently
too far for any astronaut or any other existing NASA servicing capability to
reach. Therefore, NASA is doing everything necessary to design and test the
telescope on the ground using techniques that will ensure that it deploys
and operates reliably in space.

However, NASA is looking into just how feasible it might be to perform
emergency servicing operations on the Webb telescope if such a need were to
arise and if such a servicing capability were to become available sometime
in the future.

"We are currently studying the possibility of adding a lightweight grapple
fixture to JWST," said John Decker, Deputy Associate Director of the JWST
Project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "A grapple
fixture is a kind of a grab bar that would afford a means for a future
manned or robotic servicing capability to safely attach to the telescope in
space."

Once the engineers who are assessing the feasibility of adding the grapple
feature have concluded the study, they will present the results to NASA
Headquarters. At that time, there will be a determination as to whether the
grapple feature will be added to the telescope. The assessment will finalize
in 2008.

The James Webb Space Telescope is a 21st century space observatory that will
peer back more than 13 billion years in time to understand the formation of
galaxies, stars and planets and the evolution of our own solar system. It is
expected to launch in 2013. The telescope is a joint project of NASA, the
European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

[NOTE: Images supporting this release are available at
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/...t_grapple.html ]