From: henry@spsystems.net   
      
   In article <5dcb47db.0401230435.41f5698b@posting.google.com>,   
   Mike Miller  wrote:   
   >As I understand Hubble, it is not meant for maintenance in space, or   
   >at least not optimized for maintenance in space. A great deal of   
   >manual dexterity is required to handle the small screws and tight   
   >spaces inside the Hubble.   
      
   No, Hubble *was* meant for maintenance in space, although as usual   
   (repeating a mistake made on Skylab), they cheaped out and decided that   
   some portions of it wouldn't break and hence wouldn't need to be set up   
   for maintenance... and of course, some of those *have* needed maintenance.   
   But it was always planned that things like instrument changes would be   
   done by spacewalking astronauts, and that was very definitely designed in.   
      
   >I don't know that teleoperated systems deliver adequate performance yet.   
      
   Definitely not.  Some of the more ambitious designs have a goal of   
   equaling the capabilities of a spacesuited astronaut, but they're not   
   there yet.   
   --   
   MOST launched 30 June; science observations running     |   Henry Spencer   
   since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending.        | henry@spsystems.net   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)