I just read that the Hubble Space Telescope is gonna be refurbished one last time,...?

Question

Its replacement the James Webb Space Telescope; Will it be built as a one shot project or will it be designed to be serviced from time to time?

Well considering the trials that were learned servicing the Hubble, wouldn't it stand to reason that if the JWST were designed to be serviceable, wouldn't it be practical to simplify certain aspects of its components so that servicing & replacement could be preformed by a robotic service drone?

NASA it appears won't have the capacity to do the maintenance when and if the need is required. Which leaves the Astronomy Interests of those concerned pretty much up the proverbial "creek" with the rapids on the horizon (lets pray it isn't the crest of a waterfall).

Perhaps where servicing capacity is required, would NASA consider building a Mini Shuttle for a crew of 2 or 3, for the exclusive purpose of servicing orbital platforms?

Either Crewed by Humanoids or an elaborate robot, a servicing capability is definitely needed.

If we had that capability to service orbital platforms, think of the potential.

Instead of having hulking multi-tonnes of dead or dying satelites in geosych orbits. Objects with the definite potential of being navigational hazzards & potential to do serious damage to currently operational satelites if they were broken up from accidental collisons with each other or the numerous meteor showers we take for granted.

Why not spare the potential for waste, by having the capabiltiy to service and extent the op. life of existing satelites?
I'm sure the Tele Corporations who use commercial satelites are willing to pay through the nose to keep their marketshare viable.

And Pure Science for Humanity could suffer less the indignity of losing a science platform when its usefulness is no longer limited to how long its batteries will last or a minor short-circuit may cause a loss of an important component.
Leaving science at the mercy of the next project - IF - the funding is there.

Answer 1

Hubble will be serviced on more time.

JWST is to be launched on an expendable rocket as one complete unit not designed for in space maintenance, although I did hear they added a docking port to the design recently. But JWST will not be in low Earth orbit; it will reside in an orbit about 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from the Earth. That is 4 times as far away as the Moon. The existing Shuttle could never reach it, although the new Orion could.

Answer 2

Citing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope

"NASA has also been considering adding a grapple feature so future spacecraft might visit the observatory to fix gross deployment problems, such as a stuck solar panel or antenna. However, the telescope itself would not be serviceable, so that astronauts would not be able to do things such as swapping out instruments, as has been done with the Hubble Telescope.[3] A decision on the grapple feature is expected in 2008.[4][5]"

In short... if it fails to deploy, they can probably repair it once, but that is it. Once it's in its final orbit, it will stay there.

You have to keep in mind that the Hubble upgrades and repairs over time could have paid for three new Hubbles. People have learned a lesson from that. Not to mention that it is not worth risking human life for something that should not be necessary in the first place. Look at the Mars program. No upgrades needed and the probes and instruments work just fine. Look at Cassini-Huygens. That's how you do it! If you need/want to learn more, you send a new instrument using all the knowledge you have acquired with the previous one.

When Hubble was conceived, our focal plane array technology was not particularly advanced, so we could make it more sensitive by swapping out instruments. These arrays have improved over time and now any replacement would bring only tiny incremental advantages over the first deployed version. Unlike with Hubble the payback does not justify the cost. Not even close.

The mini shuttle will never be built. I think for now people had enough of space plane technology. It turned out to combine the worst of both worlds in the most marginal of design envelopes. Not everything that looks cool works well. This one definitely didn't. Just ask the families of the dead astronauts.

A servicing facility is not needed. Care in the initial design and manufacture, however, is.

Answer 3

Sounds like reinventing the wheel to me. Space shuttle serving HST worked just fine. I would think it will continue to work for JWST. It might even be easier with JWST's retractable mirrors.

Answer 4

i have heard next july or august,sts 125,look it up www.nasa.gov/sts125