Paul Williamson wrote:
"The first burn went relatively well -- there was a small deviation from the expected burn duration, which placed the spacecraft perigee somewhat higher
than planned. The second burn could not be accomplished because a slow leak in the high-pressure helium system during the week the spacecraft was being reoriented prevented the opening of valves feeding fuel to the thrust assembly."
The "small deviation" is known to be due to a design error in the simple digital logic circuit that controlled the burn duration.
OK. The helium leak was a propulsion system fault. The design error in the logic was human error and is known so can be designed out.
On AO-13, the kick motor worked exactly as planned, and the spacecraft achieved the intended orbit. But that orbit could have been chosen better,
as it turned out. The early re-entry after only 8.5 years was not anticipated, and probably could have been avoided if we had been smart enough, soon enough.
Another "human error" Hindsight is wonderful. I don't think we should reject an option that requires propulsion because of past errors that are now well understood.