Hubble Space Telescope can fight again, NASA announces cooperation with SpaceX to raise its orbit

CTOnews.com, September 30 (Xinhua)-- the official website of NASA announced today that it will work with SpaceX to bring new life to the old Hubble Telescope.

The Hubble Space Telescope photo taken by an astronaut on the space shuttle ▲ Atlantis on May 19, 2009, from NASA

According to the blog, NASA and SpaceX signed an unfunded space bill agreement on Thursday, September 22, to study the feasibility of SpaceX and Polaris ideas. The plan uses the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to lift NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to a higher orbit at no cost to NASA.

▲ SpaceX Dragon spaceship, pictured by NASA

The Polaris project is a private manned space program funded by billionaire Jason Isaacman. Earlier this year, Isaacman bought three flights from the SpaceX Dragon, a series of flights he called the "Polaris Project."

The NASA team estimates that it will take up to six months of preliminary research to raise the Hubble telescope's orbit and will collect technical data from the Hubble and SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The data will help determine whether it is safe to rendezvous, dock and move the telescope to a more stable orbit.

Thomas Zurbuchen, deputy director of the Science Mission Council at NASA headquarters in Washington, said: "this study is an exciting example of NASA exploring innovative ways through public-private partnerships, and as we grow in size, there will be more opportunities to explore to support the most powerful and advanced scientific missions."

CTOnews.com learned that the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been operating for more than three decades since 1990, is in an orbit about 539km above the earth, which slowly decreases over time. NASA and SpaceX hope to push Hubble back to a higher and more stable track, which may add more uptime. Finally, at the end of the Hubble telescope's life cycle, NASA plans to take it out of orbit safely.