NASA Is Looking For Ways To Save The Hubble Space Telescope From An "Uncontrolled Reentry", And Extend Its Mission Beyond 2032
NASA is evaluating options to prevent the Hubble Space Telescope from experiencing an uncontrolled reentry into Earth's atmosphere by 2032. Without intervention, atmospheric drag will eventually cause the telescope to fall, ending its decades-long mission of astronomical discovery.
Why it matters
Hubble has been instrumental in fundamental discoveries like the age of the universe and dark energy, making its preservation a significant scientific priority.
NASA is looking for ways to save the iconic Hubble Space Telescope from an "uncontrolled reentry" in 2032, and extend the lifetime of one of NASA's Great Observatories. The Hubble Space Telescope launched in April 1990, and as well as returning a ridiculous number of the most astonishing space imagery you can gawp at, has been pivotal to progress in astronomy and cosmology over the last 36 years. Before the telescope launched, for example, we did not really know how old the universe was, with estimates lying between 10 and 20 billion years old. The telescope's observations of Cepheid variable stars helped us refine this to our current estimate of around 13.8 billion years old. Meanwhile, observing distant Type 1a supernovas and finding them to be dimmer (and therefore farther away ) than expected, the telescope helped us discover dark energy.
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NASA Seeks Commercial Partners to Save Hubble Space Telescope
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