![]() "The inclusion of the soft capture mechanism in Servicing Mission 4 certainly makes a mission like this much more feasible and easier to talk about," said Patrick Crouse, Hubble Space Telescope project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. An artist's impression of the soft capture mechanism. Hubble, however, was equipped with a grapple fixture during its final servicing mission, and SpaceX engineers may be able to come up with a mechanism that would allow a Crew Dragon to lock on. Unlike the now-retired space shuttle, which featured a 60-foot-long cargo bay and a 50-foot-long robotic arm, SpaceX Crew Dragon capsules have no external appendages. "Certainly, the idea of boosting and servicing Hubble, should the feasibility study support it, would be a logical second mission." "There are specific objectives that we're trying to achieve with each mission," Isaacman said. NASA and SpaceX are now studying whether a Crew Dragon capsule could lock onto the telescope and boost it to a higher orbit, extending its lifetime.īut during a teleconference with reporters to announce the study, officials stressed no actual flights are being planned, saying the study is primarily focused on determining whether a Crew Dragon reboost mission, either piloted or uncrewed, is possible while ensuring the safety of the iconic telescope.īut the second Polaris mission does not yet have any announced mission objectives and could serve as a Hubble reboost mission if the study concludes such a flight is technically feasible using a Crew Dragon capsule. The circular fitting can be seen at the base of the telescope in this photo, taken shortly after Hubble's release. ![]() During a final shuttle servicing mission in 2009, a "soft capture mechanism" was attached to the base of the Hubble Space Telescope to enable a next-generation spacecraft to grapple the observatory so it could be safely driven out of orbit at the end of its lifetime. Isaacman said his team first thought about a Hubble reboost mission as a potential goal for the second Polaris mission. ![]() The six-month study will be carried out at no cost to taxpayers and will include input from Jared Isaacman, who commanded the first commercial SpaceX mission - Inspiration 4 - and who is financing another program called Polaris that includes two Crew Dragon flights and a piloted mission aboard SpaceX's new Starship rocket. ![]() NASA and SpaceX will study the feasibility of a commercial Crew Dragon flight to increase the altitude of the aging Hubble Space Telescope and even whether a limited servicing mission of some sort might be possible to help extend the observatory's useful lifetime, officials announced Thursday. ![]()
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