



I can't speak to sheer mass, but part of the problem is that HST
wasn't built to ever be brought back down.  It's not built for those
kinds of 'jolt' forces and there is no support cradle for it (which is
additional weight that would be required.

-- 
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live
 in the real world."   -- Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden