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To: Nonstatist; bedolido; theDentist; balrog666; js1138; Joe Hadenuf; longshadow; VadeRetro; jennyp; ...
From Nonstatist: and add boosters so that they can reset orbit to geo-sync (22000 miles)

Not a possible option. The control laws and torque rods for momentum control would not work at Geo.

From Balrog666: Exactly! Why should it join Sky Lab?

I agree to an extent. It depends on the tradeoffs as the equipment degrades on orbit.

From RonF: Being in geosynchronous orbit doesn't make it magcially stable. Geosynchronous orbits degrade, too

Except they degrade as you call it along the geo orbit path due to a non-spherical Earth. There are two "gravity wells" geo birds fall into. When a geo bird is at end of life, we usually (if able) boost them to what is known as a super-synch orbit.

during a station-keeping manuever, someone made a mistake and put the sattelite into a spin that prevented it's command antenna from maintaining an Earth fix, so it couldn't receive the command to stop

It did not have a low gain omni??? WOW!

From Nonstatist: There another servicing mission next year, all ready to go. Theyre just waiting on shuttle use ok. If the next gyro goes, no more science until the shuttle gets there, and that could be moved up, providing this report goes through and theres no flack from the politicos..

Its feasable to boost HST with its own power source (attached somehow); Im just not sure about whether it gets funded.

Cannot be done.

From RonF: I don't know if the ion engines have sufficient specific impulse for station keeping for Hubble.

Why do it? Redesign of the flight code? Gyros and torque rods work great.

24 posted on 08/15/2003 3:41:11 PM PDT by RadioAstronomer
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To: RadioAstronomer
Ion engines are a feasable means to reboost from low orbit to geo-sync. Its a slow process, but I know for a fact that there are proposals in consideration right now that will do exactly that.
25 posted on 08/15/2003 3:48:01 PM PDT by Nonstatist
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