Since the James Webb is in orbit, the fate of Hubble has been discussed, and the question arises, what will happen to Hubble now? Well, NASA will not leave it lying around because I have already spoken with SpaceX to extend its useful life.
Hubble has been in space for more than three decades, it was launched on April 24, 1990, it has made innumerable contributions, discoveries and views of space as we had never imagined, its plan was to withdraw it at the end of this decade, but it turned out that Despite everything, the old Hubble is still in excellent condition, which would be a waste to drop it to earth.
NASA spoke with SpaceX, and it was analyzed that with the help of a dragon capsule they could raise Hubble 600km, a higher orbit, which would allow it to be active for a few more years. SpaceX will send one of its capsules with a commercial crew, which will service and maintain the telescope.
Although the Hubble is completely fine, it is known that since 2009 the Hubble has descended 30km due to atmospheric resistance, which means that at some point in the year 2030 it will fall without remedy to earth, which would mean the destruction of it, so there is a time limit.
The study that will be done to Hubble to find out its status will only last 6 months, with this it will begin to find a way for SpaceX and its Dragon capsule to dock with Hubble. The study, which will be funded by NASA, will examine whether a modification to the capsule is necessary, as well as whether it is a crewed mission.
NASA and SpaceX hinted that if the inclusion of a crew in the dragon capsule were possible, it would count to be part of the Polaris program, which is a group of manned flights into space, as well as a spacewalk with the suit designed by SpaceX.
In short, if everything fits as it should, NASA will be able to extend the useful life of the telescope by around 15 to 20 years, while SpaceX will be able to launch the Polaris program, to finish both organizations also highlighted that this agreement is for a study, and which does not represent plans for SpaceX to regularly maintain the telescope on future occasions, NASA is expected to continue to do so until Hubble’s inevitable downfall.
We can only say that Hubble will continue to give us incredible views for a while longer, and will also serve as a comparison with James Webb, without a doubt it marks a before and after in science and time will tell us what remains to be shown, especially while Details are refined with his successor.
