It’s been 34 years since the Hubble Space Telescope launched into the harsh and unforgiving environment of Earth orbit. It’s sitting about 320 miles (515 kilometers) above our planet right now, exposed to solar radiation, freezing temperatures and micrometeoroid impacts while delivering breathtaking and textbook-altering images of the universe to us.Thirty-four years under that kind of stress takes its toll. Just earlier this week (June 4), NASA announced one of the Hubble Space Telescope’s three remaining gyroscopes — which help scientists make sure the craft is pointing in the correct direction — has failed. The observatory will now shift into one-gyroscope mode, keeping the other still-working gyro in reserve so there’s a backup option to turn to when the time comes. This plan is expected to keep Hubble alive until the mid-2030s. But what would happen after that? Well, perhaps the end of Hubble. Perhaps not.The thing is, Hubble’s orbit is very slowly getting lower and lower as time goes by because of our planet’s atmospheric drag. It’s also just generally getting old, and with age comes some weariness. This presents two paths for Hubble’s future. On one hand, scientists can tap into the observatory’s steady descent and perform a controlled reentry upon which most (but not all) of the spacecraft will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.Related: A billionaire hopes to upgrade the Hubble Telescope on a private SpaceX mission, but could it really happen?Or, scientists can boost Hubble to a higher orbit where it can rest for a while — potentially allowing for time to decide if a more in-depth servicing mission can be done, sort of like the old days. Which brings us to the billionaire with an ambitious plan.In 2022, Jared Isaacman, who funded and commanded the Inspiration4 all-civilian private space launch and is looking to do the same with his Polaris program, announced a proposal to save Hubble with a commercial mission in collaboration with SpaceX. It was associated with NASA’s request for private companies to develop ideas about how to go with …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnIt’s been 34 years since the Hubble Space Telescope launched into the harsh and unforgiving environment of Earth orbit. It’s sitting about 320 miles (515 kilometers) above our planet right now, exposed to solar radiation, freezing temperatures and micrometeoroid impacts while delivering breathtaking and textbook-altering images of the universe to us.Thirty-four years under that kind of stress takes its toll. Just earlier this week (June 4), NASA announced one of the Hubble Space Telescope’s three remaining gyroscopes — which help scientists make sure the craft is pointing in the correct direction — has failed. The observatory will now shift into one-gyroscope mode, keeping the other still-working gyro in reserve so there’s a backup option to turn to when the time comes. This plan is expected to keep Hubble alive until the mid-2030s. But what would happen after that? Well, perhaps the end of Hubble. Perhaps not.The thing is, Hubble’s orbit is very slowly getting lower and lower as time goes by because of our planet’s atmospheric drag. It’s also just generally getting old, and with age comes some weariness. This presents two paths for Hubble’s future. On one hand, scientists can tap into the observatory’s steady descent and perform a controlled reentry upon which most (but not all) of the spacecraft will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.Related: A billionaire hopes to upgrade the Hubble Telescope on a private SpaceX mission, but could it really happen?Or, scientists can boost Hubble to a higher orbit where it can rest for a while — potentially allowing for time to decide if a more in-depth servicing mission can be done, sort of like the old days. Which brings us to the billionaire with an ambitious plan.In 2022, Jared Isaacman, who funded and commanded the Inspiration4 all-civilian private space launch and is looking to do the same with his Polaris program, announced a proposal to save Hubble with a commercial mission in collaboration with SpaceX. It was associated with NASA’s request for private companies to develop ideas about how to go with …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
