A week or two ago I had written that I don’t like the “we can’t, because” phrase. An obstacle is an opportunity to find a solution. The problem is that Hubble needs to be raised in orbit and needs routine maintenance in order to extend its lifespan. As a tremendously useful telescope, this lifespan is worth extending. The assets that we have available to solve this problem are limited, but we can make modifications that make them useful to solve the problem.

The forward nosecone does not get in the way for docking to the ISS, and with a little thinking then someone should be able to come up with a way to connect a Dragon to Hubble in order to raise the orbit and to perform maintenance. Neither Dragon nor Starliner are ideal for this task, but they are what we have available now. Starship may be more versatile, but it is not available until sometime in the future.

What this request for information means is that we need more resources than we have, but it also means that we are far closer now to having those resources than we were just a few years ago, before commercial space was able to innovate its own solutions to the problems in space. Government was not able to supply the innovations that it needed to keep Hubble running, but incentives to supply customers with what they want give commercial companies the ability to raise the funds that government is not willing to spend. Resources that government has for a one-time mission use are continually useful to the commercial sector. By the way, this is yet another mission that no one would expend the high cost of a SLS launcher or an Orion. This is why NASA has turned to commercial space for solutions.

This is yet another example of what we get when We the People are able to run things. The government can even get what it wants while we get what we want. When the government runs things, government does not always get what it wants. But We the People rarely get what we want; all we get is what government wants.

NASA may have brilliant minds, but Congress squanders those minds by not funding their ideas. These ideas are not what Congress wants. Many of these ideas are what We the People want.

Four hundred years on this continent, working under free market capitalism, We the People have turned a backwoods village into a great nation. In sixty years, the government under central control has turned the ability to reach the moon into the ability to reach low Earth orbit into the inability to reach orbit at all. Progress is not automatic. Progress takes very hard work, and government is rarely willing to work very hard.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/f1XjghimSO4 (one minute)

NASA worked very hard in the 1960s, but government did not support continued hard work. Without it, government could not create a way to continue supporting Hubble.

I’ve heard the NASA/SpaceX study looks at that. It’s probably the easiest “repair” a mission like this could do, without much in the way of mods to the Dragon.

But it sounds like we have to wait until spring to see the final draft released, to see what they came up with.

Unless Congress becomes willing to fund such a mission, then yes, for free. When we let Congress be in charge of the budget, we only get what Congress is willing to pay for. When We the People are willing to pay for it, we are far more likely to get what we are willing to pay for. In this case, we need government permission to boost or repair (mess with) their property.

To change out the gyros and any instruments also requires permission by the owner (NASA/government), and it would also require cooperation with them in order to build compatible hardware. As Robert noted, Jared Isaacman has been doing a lot of his own science and engineering, but he does not seem to expect personal gain from either.

So they’re looking for someone to do it for free?

Company A approaches NASA to buy HST, boost it, repair gyros, and make it generally functional. In return, Company A would lease it back to NASA for operation, while Company A performed necessary maintenance, including orbital station-keeping (because NASA can’t reach it, anyway).

Probably won’t happen, because HST is a National Treasure, and old tech, to boot. If it goes anywhere, it will be the Smithsonian.

George C: Outer Space Treaty clearly states that objects sent into space belong to whoever launched them, forever. No such salvage laws exist for space objects, in orbit or on other worlds.

Nor would anyone want to take Hubble from NASA, who knows how to run it.

I think the public relations value of a private servicing mission would easily pay for its cost. Imagine if you already have a business refueling and servicing satellites (such as Northrop Grumman and its Mission Extension Vehicles). You fix Hubble and you will garner millions from others clamoring for your business.

Use the booster as a gyroscope and new pointing system.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/07/12/james-webb-images-calls-rename-lgbtq-abuse/10036466002/