re hst servicing mission scheduled for days regarding the feasability of retrieving the hst for repair and relaunching it caution speculation mode engaged there is another consideration that hasn t been mentioned yet i expect that retrieving hst would involve damaging it considerably in order to return it to its cradle in the cargo bay most of the deployed items antennas and especially the solar arays probably are not retractable into their fully stowed position even by hand they would have to be removed by the astronauts the only advantage that this might yield is that we could put new panels on that don t ring due to thermal cycle stresses i also expect that as has been discussed the landing loads on the hst optics structure is a big issue but that the reentry loads are much less so can the moveable optical components even be re caged i assume that they were caged for launch michael corvin zwork starfighter den mmc com gn c r d martin marietta astronautics my views not martin marietta s
