A private company has an audacious plan to rescue NASA’s last “Great Observatory”
Summary
A Delta II rocket launched the Spitzer Space Telescope two decades ago, boosting it to an Earth-trailing orbit, where it drifted away from our planet at a rate of about 15 million kilometers a year. Last week the firm said it won a $250,000 grant from the US Space Force to continue studying a robotic rescue mission for the spacecraft, which is now about two astronomical unitsor twice the distance of Earth from the Sunaway.The plan is rather audacious, but it has some serious backers, including the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Blue Sun Enterprises, and Lockheed Martin. "We plan to be busy right from the start of the mission," said Howard Smith, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics, which is operated by Harvard University and the Smithsonian, who is involved in the proposed rescue flight.Once the resurrector spacecraft reaches the telescope, it would fly around at a distance of 50 to 100 km to characterize Spitzers health. This would allow scientists to restart observations.Rhea Space Activity, which is named after the Greek goddess and presently has fewer than 10 employees, is seeking a larger grant from the military and, ultimately, full funding for a mission expected to cost about $350 million. Last year the White House published a report stating that advancing government and commercial capabilities in these areas was a priority for the United States.Usman said the company has already had discussions with NASA about the mission, and the agency is likely to sign off on a rescue attempt.