NASA and SpaceX Sign Agreement for Hubble Space Telescope

NASA announced that it has signed an agreement with SpaceX to move the Hubble Space Telescope to higher points. The agency also stressed that it will not spend any money on the project.

Launched in 1990, it has been operating at an altitude of 540 kilometers from the earth for more than 30 years. Hubble Space Telescopehas been instrumental in shedding light on many mysteries of space. While the telescope is expected to be replaced by James Webb and Hubble is expected to retire, important news came from NASA today.

According to the shared announcement, NASA sought a solution with Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX to take Hubble to a higher orbit. An agreement was signed between the two companies in this context. For the maneuver envisioned for Hubble to take place, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule marked.

NASA will not spend a penny on the project:

According to NASA’s announcement, the idea of ​​extending Hubble’s lifespan came up with a proposal made by SpaceX a few months ago. Thomas Zurbuchen, one of the heads of NASA, said that with the proposal and the agreement, NASA’s mission is to extend the life of Hubble. will not allocate financial resources stated.

If SpaceX’s idea to do this mission presented to NASA with the Crew Dragon vehicle, the company’s Polaris Program It was born out of a partnership with a private space company called On the other hand, Crew Dragon does not have a robotic arm that will allow equipment to be attached to Hubble or to make any modifications. It is not yet clear how this task will be accomplished.

Unlike James Webb, the Hubble Space Telescope does not contain any thrusters. The telescope is therefore at altitude or in orbit. cannot perform any settings.

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


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