NASA plans to study the use of the Crew Dragon vehicle to boost the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher altitude.
A six-month study will be conducted by the federal agency to determine the practicability of Dragon docking with the 32-year-old telescope. The study can be used by other companies to propose similar concepts.
The agreement came after the Polaris Program, a series of private missions funded by a billionaire, approached NASA about possible servicing missions. When he commanded a crew of four aboard the Dragon in 2021, he was the first private citizen to do so. He wants to push the boundaries of private space exploration outside. The first Polaris mission will fly in March of 2023 and will include the first private spacewalks.
It is possible that this spacewalking experience can be used to help Hubble.
The cost of such a mission will be answered by the new Hubble study. Hubble's altitude is currently 535 km to 600 km, but the goal is to increase it to 600 km. Hubble has been losing altitude since the fifth and final servicing mission in 2009.
The telescope's project manager said during a teleconference with reporters that NASA might have to launch a module to the telescope by the end of the 2020s. This would make sure Hubble lands in the ocean. A Dragon mission could add up to 20 years to Hubble's lifetime.
Although nothing like the detailed instrument replacements and major upgrades performed during Hubble servicing missions, the study will look at potential servicing options. Engineers from NASA and SpaceX will look at the feasibility of replacing the pointing of the telescope. Three of the six gyroscopes are still working.
AdvertisementThe officials on the teleconference didn't talk about costs. No funds will change hands for the study, but if there is a path forward for a Crew Dragon mission to dock with Hubble, that will have to be worked out. It looks like he will contribute a significant portion of the mission's cost, as he did with the Polaris Dawn mission. It's possible that NASA would contribute a portion of the funding if they wanted one or more of their astronauts to fly with him.
Private funding for space exploration is nothing new. Alexander MacDonald states in his book The Long Space Age that of the 38 US astronomy observatories built in the 1800s and early 1900s, 36 were funded and operated by private funders.
"American citizens, through collective subscription campaigns and singular philanthropy, privately funded the increasingly expensive technology required for the continue exploration of the heavens for over a century before NASA or the invention of the liquid- fueled rocket," MacDonald wrote.
He believes that the future of space exploration may involve a similar level of private investment.
The chief of science at NASA, Thomas Zurbuchen, supports the idea of a public-private mission. He said that they look at crazy ideas all the time. It's really compelling.
He said that NASA will conduct the study and consider solutions from other providers that are in the best interests of taxpayers. Hubble is running out of time and it's not clear if another vehicle will be able to service it. The extra year makes a re-boost less effective. The benefits are clear for NASA. Taxpayers have spent more than $10 billion to build and fly Hubble, which provides the best optical view of the universe. Zurbuchen wants to extend the value of that investment, especially with the possibility to now pair Hubble observations with those of the James Webb Space Telescope.
Zurbuchen said thatHubble is an amazing success. As we speak, it is doing great science.
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