NASA and SpaceX to boost Hubble

[NumLock21]

The Hubble Space telescope launched back 32 years ago, gave the world a glimpse of what's beyond our Solar System, and now it's getting extra years of life as NASA and SpaceX plans,

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to conduct a six-month study to determine the practicability of Dragon docking with the 32-year-old telescope and boosting it into a higher orbit. The agreement comes after SpaceX and the Polaris Program—a series of private missions self-funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman—approached NASA about potential servicing missions including the Hubble Space Telescope. The study is not exclusive, meaning that other companies can propose similar concepts with alternative rockets and spacecraft.

Polaris will being its first space walk mission in March 2023 and if it's successful, then they're planning to perform another one, this time on the Hubble, to perform some service work, like replacing them gyroscopes that controls Hubble's telescope, where only 3 out of 6 remains in working order. For the boost, SpaceX's Dragon will dock with Hubble and bring it from its current orbit of 535km up to 600km, the original orbit altitude launch back in 1990. Without the idea of boosting Hubble, NASA would have to send a module and bring it safely back to Earth, but with the boosting idea, Hubble may see an extra 15 to even 20 years of orbital life.

 

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[sazrocks]

Just to temper expectations, here is the first sentence of the actual press release from NASA:

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NASA and SpaceX signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement Thursday, Sept. 22, to study the feasibility of a SpaceX and Polaris Program idea to boost the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit with the Dragon spacecraft, at no cost to the government.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-spacex-to-study-hubble-telescope-reboost-possibility

This is an unfunded feasibility study only at this point. The title “NASA and SpaceX to boost Hubble” is quite premature.

[wanderingfool2]

1 hour ago, sazrocks said:

Just to temper expectations, here is the first sentence of the actual press release from NASA:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-spacex-to-study-hubble-telescope-reboost-possibility

This is an unfunded feasibility study only at this point. The title “NASA and SpaceX to boost Hubble” is quite premature.

Agreed, although it wouldn't surprise me if Jared Isaacman ends up still funding the boosting part of the mission if deemed feasible.  He genuinely seems to enjoy space stuff, and it wouldn't surprise me that he might be willing to pay in order to prove that it can be done (and to help extend Hubble)