NASA and SpaceX Investigating Hubble Telescope Orbital Reboost To Add Years to Its Operational Life

3D animation revealing the Hubble Space Telescope over the Earth. Credit: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen) On Thursday, September 22, NASA and SpaceX signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement to study the expediency of a SpaceX and Polaris Program concept to improve the company’s Hubble Space Telescope into a greater orbit with the Dragon spacecraft, at no charge to the U.S. federal government. There are presently no prepare for NASA to carry out or money a maintenance objective or complete this chance. Rather, this research study is created to assist the firm comprehend the industrial possibilities. SpaceX– in collaboration with the Polaris Program– proposed this research study to get understanding of the technical difficulties connected with maintenance objectives. Other business might propose comparable research studies with various rockets or spacecraft as their design, as this research study is non-exclusive. This image from April 24, 2021, reveals the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour as it approached the International Space Station. Credit: NASA Teams prepare for that the research study will use up to 6 months, gathering technical information from both Hubble and the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. This information will be utilized to assist figure out whether it would be possible to securely rendezvous, dock, and move the aging telescope into a more steady orbit. “This research study is an amazing example of the ingenious methods NASA is checking out through private-public collaborations,” stated Thomas Zurbuchen. He is the associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “As our fleet grows, we wish to check out a wide variety of chances to support the most robust, superlative science objectives possible.” Hubble and Dragon will serve as test designs for this research study, parts of the objective principle might be appropriate to other spacecraft, especially satellites in near-Earth orbit like Hubble. An astronaut aboard the area shuttle bus Atlantis recorded this picture of the Hubble Space Telescope on May 19,2009 Credit: NASA Hubble has actually been running considering that 1990, released around 335 miles above Earth in an orbit that is gradually rotting with time. Reboosting Hubble into a greater, more steady orbit might include numerous years of operations to its life. It has actually been reboosted numerous times throughout maintenance objectives. At the end of its life time, NASA prepares to securely de-orbit or get rid of Hubble. “SpaceX and the Polaris Program wish to broaden the limits of present innovation and check out how business collaborations can artistically resolve tough, intricate issues,” stated Jessica Jensen. She is vice president of Customer Operations & Integration at SpaceX. “Missions such as servicing Hubble would assist us broaden area abilities to eventually assist everyone accomplish our objectives of ending up being a space-faring, multiplanetary civilization.” The Hubble Space Telescope is a job of worldwide cooperation in between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, handles the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, performs Hubble science operations. STScI is run for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington.
Read More