PFS issue on Venus Express, PFS scanner stuck in its closed position Options

[Rakhir]

Bad news for PFS. I hope they will be able to solve this issue.

The PFS scanner is stuck in its closed position.
Several attempts to move it were made at the time, but the instrument did not respond. Experts suspected a thermal problem by which low temperatures were blocking the rotation of the mechanism.
Another attempt to move the scanner was made on 16 March 2006, in warmer flight conditions. Unfortunately, the scanner remains stuck.

The next opportunity to perform another test on the spacecraft will be end of April, after the Venus Orbit Insertion.

From http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/in...fobjectid=38964

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

I would have loved the robotic Hubble mission IF THERE WAS ANY REASONABLE CHANCE IT COULD BE MADE TO WORK FOR LESS COST THAN JUST BUILDING AND LAUNCHING A HUBBLE REPLACEMENT. Unfortunately, after one looked at the idea for a little while, it was painfully apparent that there wasn't -- we simply did not have the time to develop the new robotic technology necessary to fly this mission at all in time to keep Hubble from breaking down completely and being destroyed, let alone to fly it for less than the cost of a replacement Hubble. Everyone who looked at the idea and (unlike O'Keefe) had any technical knowledge at all reached the same conclusion, which is why the Hubble Robot is now sleeping with the fishes. Had we gotten an earlier start on developing it, it might have been a different story -- ah, but had we done that, NASA would have lost one of its major (pre-Colombia) arguments for trumpeting that we Still Needed The Shuttle.

(Note also that the kind of repair work the Hubble Robot would have needed to do was far more complex than just latching onto a stuck part and giving it a yank.)