re hst servicing mission scheduled for days in article rrjsjinnop rave larc nasa gov sdd larc nasa gov steve derry writes pat prb access digex net wrote the limit on space walking is a function of suit supplies mass and orbiter duration i haven t seen any specifics on the hst repair mission but i can t see why the mass margins are tight what are they carrying up replacement components wfpc ii costar gyros solar panels and probably a few others all sorts of tools eva equipment and as much oms fuel and consumables as they can this should be lighter than the original hst deployment mission which achieved the highest altitude for a shuttle mission to date and hst is now in a lower orbit seems like the limiting factors would be crew fatigue and mission complexity steve derry s d derry larc nasa gov one thing to recall putting a satellite as high as possible is one thing coming back to not only that altitude but matching the position of it in its orbit on a subsequent mission is another thing any misalignment of the plane of the orbit during launch or being ahead or behind the target will require more fuel to adjust this was considered in the original deployment i agree though that the demands on the crew and complexity are stupendous one has to admire how much they are trying to do wm hathaway baltimore md
