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posted by on Wednesday February 15 2017, @08:36AM   Printer-friendly
from the where-public-private-actually-works dept.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the White House is considering a proposal to send a manned mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope for a sixth time. The mission would use a Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser Space System miniature space shuttle and could act as an "insurance policy" in case of issues with the launch and deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The JWST will be located at the Earth-Sun L2 point, over 2,700 times further away from Earth than Hubble.

NASA's recent trend of partnering with private companies will continue under President Trump:

NASA will continue tapping the private sector to fund space exploration efforts under President Trump, marking a continuation in policy that first began under former president Barack Obama. "Public-private partnerships are the future of space exploration," Dava Newman, a former NASA deputy administrator who resigned before Trump took office, told CNBC on Tuesday. "I call it the new NASA."

In total, 22 companies—all American—have won contracts with the agency across a diverse range of sectors, from in-space manufacturing to engine development. Boeing and Elon Musk's SpaceX will be delivering NASA astronauts to international space stations, while Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX will transport NASA cargo to space stations, said Newman, who is now chair of the Apollo Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The European Space Agency is partnering with NASA on a 2021 orbital mission around the Moon.


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by bob_super on Wednesday February 15 2017, @06:06PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @06:06PM (#467497)

    The US is going to launch a multi-billion-dollar gold-colored tool designed to look at things differently than us, with a cold heart and a weird protruding sun-shielding contraption. It's unserviceable and, unlike its predecessor, won't provide real-color views inspiring a whole generation. It also won't be losing focus early on about what's important.

    Do not argue against "James Webb", it could still be renamed to a lot worse.

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