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 ]