NASA wants ideas to boost the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit using private spaceships
NASA is looking deeper into the possibility of using a private spacecraft to lift the Hubble Space Telescope to new heights, giving the influential space observatory a new lease on life.
On Dec. 22, the space agency issued a request for information regarding a non-exclusive SpaceX study from earlier this year that suggested how the Hubble Space Telescope could be “rebooted” to a higher orbit.
NASA’s request for information, which you can read here, comes as it continues to look into the future of the space telescope and will remain open through January 24, 2023.
Related: The best Hubble Space Telescope images of all time
Since Hubble began operations in 1990, the space telescope’s orbit 335 miles (540 kilometers) above Earth has begun to wane. Re-boosting it into a higher, more stable orbit could add years to the operational life of the Hubble telescope, delaying the point at which NASA The telescope must be removed or discarded.
During the five Space Shuttle missions to Hubble service, NASA used the shuttle to re-enhanced the telescope. The last shuttle service mission to Hubble was in 2009. NASA retired its shuttle fleet in 2011.
The idea to lift Hubble to a higher orbit using the Dragon spacecraft at no cost to the government was first developed between SpaceX and Polaris, a private program for space missions using SpaceX Dragon and Starship. Cars funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman. The unfunded agreement between SpaceX and NASA for the feasibility study of the Hubble Reinforcement was signed in September 2022.
The SpaceX study is designed to help NASA, which currently has no plans to operate or fund a new Hubble servicing mission, determine the commercial viability of such a mission. The SpaceX study also aims to identify the technical challenges of this service endeavor.
The fact that the study is non-exclusive means that other companies are free to propose their own Hubble service studies based on the use of different rockets or spacecraft.
These studies will collect data from Hubble itself and SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to assess whether the space telescope can safely rendezvous and dock before it is transferred to a higher stable orbit. Studies are expected to take approximately 6 months to complete.
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, said statment. (Opens in a new tab) “As our fleet grows, we want to explore a wide range of opportunities to support the most powerful and superior science missions possible.”
The Hubble reactivation will show how older satellites and spacecraft can be given extended operating periods, especially those in near-Earth orbits such as the Space Telescope.
“SpaceX and Polaris want to push the boundaries of existing technology and explore how commercial partnerships can creatively solve complex, challenging problems,” said Jessica Jensen, Vice President of Customer Operations and Integration for SpaceX. Missions like the Hubble Service will help us expand space capabilities to eventually help us all achieve our goals of becoming a space-faring, multi-planetary civilization.
Follow us on Twitter @tweet or on Facebook.
#NASA #ideas #boost #Hubble #Space #Telescope #higher #orbit #private #spaceships