Can SpaceX's Dragon Give Hubble New Life?

SpaceX & Jared Isaacman have been awarded an unfunded space act agreement to study boosting the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit, and potentially more. While they haven't gone into great detail about what the plan could be it would be logical to use SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft which has cargo space for payloads which would be required for this kind of mission.
But I think the potential of EVA servicing is still minimal due to the lack of manipulator arms, EVA suits and other hardware that's needed to provide astronaut mobility. However without servicing the telescope could well fail before it falls out of orbit since it's down to one working computer and no spare gyroscopes.

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[ronboe]

OK, this will involve run-a-way costs; but take your mini service module idea a wee bit further: Upscale that module, and launch it by its' self to Hubble and dock it. Then send a Dragon capsule afterwards to do the parts replacement and such. This way the new service module will not be constrained by the volume of the Dragon and it can fold out railings, perhaps a fold out patio to simulate the robot arm that the astronauts could stand on. Along with a proper docking ring on the back that Dragon could use.

Now if there is a way to plug into the computer bus on Hubble you could have extra computers in the service module that could replace failing ones on Hubble. But splitting the hardware into two launches gives NASA some flexibility.

[vernacular]

Does Hubble even need to be saved? There’s a lot to be said for end-of-life with dated technology. Let’s spend the $$ on improved hardware!

[donjones]

For anyone wondering if the EVA could be through the side hatch: Jared tweeted "forward hatch only appropriate option for opening in space" when he gave us some hints on Twitter. He'd also indicated the docking would have to be with a trunk-mounted adapter.

[NormReitzel]

Why not take the 2nd stage all the way to Hubble's orbit, and put the docking adapter below the dragon struts, The 2nd stage still has lots OD DELTA-V left.

[witchdoctor]

If this ever happens it will be an amazing mission. I hope NASA and SpaceX and Jared will come to some sort of agreement and will make this mission happen.

[xani]

I'd think they will just make real-life version of Kerbal's The Claw and send it there

[ShireIO]

One wonders if they could attach an ion thruster pack with solar panels to that docking ring to provide both the ability to stay in high orbit as well as provide precise orientation.

[LordOceanus]

If it just came down to a reboost I don't see why SpaceX or someone else could not just launch a dedicated mission extension vehicle built on a large commercial satellite bus. We have remote docking down pretty well so provided it had the modified interface it would be fairly pedestrian to perform. Heck you could even add a little manipulator arm to said mission extension vehicle and then send a Dragon with an EVA crew up to run jumper cables from Hubble's internal electronics to new computers and Gyros in the extension vehicle. With the lack of Shuttle like capability 2 missions seems like a safer bet to me.

[paintedpony]

Your lack of confidence and appreciation for Jared and Elon is a real shame. Or is that 'sham'? You rarely, rarely say anything positive about SpaceX. Why are you so set against them?

[skyfrog]

Many years ago, I worked on the Hubble Robotic Vehicle (HRV) project with Lockheed in Denver. The HRV had an arm to replace components, capability to boost the orbit, and a de-orbit module for end of life. The program was cancelled after it was decided to instead use the Shuttle to service Hubble. Of course, it’s much more fun to have a manned mission.

[MrMurtucky]

Why not add an inflatable module with parts and thrusters (or lab?) that would feature a modern dragon compatible dock on its rear end for future human missions- making the "beta" dock on hubble no longer an obstacle and just part of the linkage structure. It would be very ambitious but useful.

[Francois_The_Photon_Mechanic]

To me, the simplest thing would be to make this a two part deal. First, you send a service module that has the legacy connector on one end and the modern one on the other. It could integrate a small airlock where the space suits would be stored for the servicing missions. Something simple. And then it would be just a matter of sending a regular crew dragon up there, doing the rendez-vous and proceeding to upgrade it once more.

[michaelbaker]

It would be nice if Hubble could be saved. NASA through away the Apollo Rocket, threw away the Space Shuttle, threw away Skylab and will no doubt do the same to Hubble. It would be nice if some one would save it.

[MonkeyJedi]

I am of an age that footage (real or computer game) of objects gently floating in orbit instantly bring up Strauss' Blue Danube.
Thank you for that Kubrick!

[deepskyfrontier]

It eventually belongs in the Smithsonian, but that can wait until it’s capabilities are trivialized by a the confluence of nano-sized atomic clocks, ultra-compact optics- enabling a giant switch that will give us whiplash after waiting (half/all) our lives for JWST. Starting in 2037, clock-linked scope-probes could begin the saturation of the solar system. As they go out in fleets, each adopted by a college, then every high school, then every middle school, they have the ability yo network together to create ultra-accurate images of from distant galaxies. Individually, they are like spy satellites with enough onboard processing to unburden the network from gluts of raw data.

They’ll arrive on fast ferries, fully-fueled stripped-down Starship-line packet cruisers. Some deep-system starships will use the atmospheres of their destination gas giant to to slow down for cheap.

Once they’re close, they’ll use electric fireworks to manifold surf to parked orbits around every orbitable object big enough for an kid to imagine living on. By 2052, we could have 10, 000 of them en route.

Designed for this purpose, they intermittently actively network their onboard atomic clocks to achieve clock correction against an ever-more ultra-exact calculation of G- the universal gravitational constant- and therefore more and more precise mass measurements and gravitational mapping. One can even dream of a gravity telescope the size of the solar system- the last fruit after removing all error is the noise of the universe itself quaking continuously. We could learn to read it all, and to look at it with such precision that it’s like going there. Within our lifetimes, we could have a truly human artifact-

A million telescopes with telephones working together and separately to share continuously the details of Story of our Universe Home.

[kylecramer]

Using the trunk is a really clever idea, Scott!

[Canada_Dominium]

Cool, it's a Skylab-era repair all over again.

[macjonte]

This brings up so much possibilities, I’m so happy Jared brought this ball to the table. The price of service has dropped and there are actually ways to solve this with Scott’s suggestion to clamp on with something magic in the trunk and keep the opening in the frunk. I think this already been answered, but is it possible to develop an airlock for the frunk as a third option so the rest of the crew won’t need to be in vacuum during the long repair?

If they choose to go with mission extender addon hardware, this could be sent in another launch in a faring and include an arm.

All this is probably much cheaper than the last space shuttle service mission?

[_Jigen]

Service module idea, replacement parts in cargo hold, a built in Canadarm + tool changer, and the controls to it in a crew capsule. Like robotic surgery but in space.

[Kybucks]

My vote is for a launch separate from Dragon. Build a service module with all the hardware upgrades needed including a crew airlock and boosting thrusters that Dragon can then rendezvous with at a later time when you need “boots on the ground” to perform manual upgrades. The new module can house all of the life limited items like gyros and solar panels plus include supplies needed for the EVA when Dragon comes later.