SpaceX and NASA have signed a new agreement to study the feasibility of send a commercial crew on a SpaceX Dragon to propel the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. If completed, the mission could extend the telescope's operational lifetime by up to 20 years.
The officials of the NASA They warned that the news is not a mission announcement. For now, it's just a feasibility study to consider whether such a mission is sensible, given technical and other limitations. But apparently the mission was SpaceX's idea, and for whatever reason they (and their partner, Jared Isaacman's Polaris Program) want humans on board.
The agreement begins to make more sense with the recognition of the NASA that the mission, if it goes ahead, will come at no cost to the government. The NASA y SpaceX are also funding their participation in the study, said NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Thomas zurbuchen, during a press conference, although he did not specify how much the study will cost.
One of the main objectives of the six-month feasibility study is to explore like a manned Dragon capsule, possible under the aegis of a Polaris Program mission, could be found and safely docked to Hubble, and then boost the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit. Yes ok SpaceX has a lot of experience docking with the International Space Station, the vice president of operations and customer integration at SpaceX, Jessica Jensen, acknowledged that Hubble represents an entirely different challenge.
It seems likely that the mission is part of the Polaris Program, a private spaceflight program headed by Jared Isaacman, the billionaire who flew into space on the Inspiration4 mission. It was estimated that this mission, which was carried out in association with SpaceX, cost less than $200 million. Isaacman, who made his fortune with payment processing company Shift4 Payments, footed the bill.
The news is notable not just as the latest sign that the space agency is increasingly turning to trade partnerships to execute essential missions. It also shows that the NASA it is theoretically open to working with private crews other than astronauts.
