Private spacecraft could carry astronauts to Hubble Space Telescope in the near future.
Hubble telescope launched two decades ago in 1990 into the earth’s orbital, was visited 5 times by astronauts who carried out several repairs, and maintained and upgraded the iconic telescope. The astronauts reached the Hubble on the NASA space shuttle.
These SpaceX shuttles have since long been retired in the year 2011, by NASA. A new chapter in servicing and maintaining the Hubble telescope may unfold shortly. NASA announced on Sept. 29 that it was conducting a 6 months feasibility study, with SpaceX, to send Dragon Capsule to the Hubble telescope, to improve the observatory’s orbit and assist in other ways even.
SpaceX Dragon Capsule Feasibility
SpaceX’s, Jessica Jensen, VP O and I say that they are studying how the Dragon Capsule would need modifications and how to safely dock with the telescope. All safety parameters need to be looked into in the best possible ways.
They are looking at the possibility of not sending a crewed spaceship.
Hubble telescope as of now is healthy and still sends out enchanting and very informative pictures of the cosmos. Recently it sent out pictures post-DART’s slamming into Dimorphus.
The orbit of the Hubble telescope has errored in the last three decades owing to the atmospheric drag. The Hubble is presently orbiting around the earth at a height of 540 KM, which is about 60 KM lower than the original orbital path.
At the present height, the probability of Hubble falling on earth by 2037 is about 50 percent.
The viability study, if it shows promise, the launch of the Dragon capsule could be earlier than expected as the required infrastructure is in place to launch such a mission. The life of the Hubble telescope could increase by 15 to 20 years if it could be boosted to its original orbital path.
