IN 2020, THE WORLD-FAMOUS

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE WILL

LIKELY BE RETIRED.

JON MORSE, A FORMER NASA

EMPLOYEE AND FOUNDER OF THE

BoldlyGo INSTITUTE, IS HOPING

TO BUILD A NEW TELESCOPE THAT

WILL FILL THE VOID LEFT BY THE

DECOMMISSIONED HUBBLE.

REPORTER JENNA FLANAGAN GIVES

US A LOOK AT THIS

FUTURISTIC TELESCOPE.

ASTRO-1 IS A SPACE

TELESCOPE THAT IS MEANT FOR

THE ERA BEYOND THE HUBBLE

SPACE TELESCOPE.

HUBBLE HAS PROBABLY A FINITE

LIFETIME TOWARDS THE END OF

THIS DECADE OR SO BEFORE ITS

CAPABILITIES WILL BE

SEVERELY DEGRADED.

YES, THAT'S RIGHT.

THE WORLD-FAMOUS HUBBLE SPACE

TELESCOPE WILL LIKELY BE

RETIRED SOMETIME AROUND 2020,

LEAVING A HOLE, SO TO SPEAK,

IN OUR INTERGALACTIC

FIELD OF VIEW.

TO FIX THIS, NASA VETERAN

JON MORSE STARTED BoldlyGo,

AND HE'S HOPING TO BUILD A NEW

TELESCOPE THAT CAN CONTINUE TO

CAPTURE THE SPECTRUM OF LIGHT

THAT HUBBLE DID.

RIGHT NOW IN NASA'S

MISSIONS THAT THEY ARE

PLANNING, THERE'S NO

CAPABILITY FOR

ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROSCOPY,

WHICH IS ONE OF THE MAINSTAYS

OF SPACE ASTRONOMY.

THIS NEW TELESCOPE,

TENTATIVELY TITLED ASTRO-1,

WILL BE A LIGHTER AND SMALLER

VERSION OF ITS COUSIN,

THE HUBB.

LIKE ITS PREDECESSOR, ASTRO-1

WILL CAPTURE ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT

IMAGES, BUT IT WILL HAVE

A TEN TIMES LARGER

FIELD OF VIEW

THANKS TO UPDATED TECHNOLOGY

FROM THE SAME COMPANY THAT

HELPED BUILD HUBBLE.

NEW YORK'S OWN CORNING,

INCORPORATED, RECENTLY MADE A

MAJOR DONATION TO BoldlyGo TO

CREATE A NEW SPACE TELESCOPE

MIRROR SIMILAR TO THIS

PROTOTYPE THAT WAS CREATED FOR

THE FAMOUS HUBBLE TELESCOPE.

SO, IF YOU CAN ENVISION A

HONEYCOMB, SO IT'S MOSTLY AIR,

BUT IT'S VERY STRONG STILL.

SO IT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE'RE

MAKING IS A HONEYCOMB

STRUCTURE OUT OF LOW-EXPANSION

MATERIAL, WHICH IS OUR U.L.E.,

TO MAKE THE PRIMARY MIRROR.

AND IT WILL BE VERY RIGID AND

ALLOW THE TELESCOPE TO FOCUS

VERY PRECISELY.

NESTLED IN THE NORTHERN

TOWN OF CANTON, JUST OUTSIDE

THE ADIRONDACK STATE PARK,

IS ONE OF CORNING GLASS'S

HIGH-TECH FACILITIES.

IN 1978, THE COMPANY BUILT THE

GLASS MIRRORS FOR THE HUBBLE

TELESCOPE THAT WERE

LIGHTWEIGHTED BY 60%, MEANING

FOR A GLASS STRUCTURE ITS

SIZE, THEY WERE ABLE TO REDUCE

THE WEIGHT BY 60%.

WITH TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY, THEY

CAN PRODUCE THE SAME PIECE

THAT'S LIGHTWEIGHTED BY 90%

WHILE MAINTAINING THE SAME

STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY.

WHEN THE TEMPERATURE

CHANGES, ESSENTIALLY,

THE MIRROR STRUCTURE

DOES NOT CHANGE.

IT STAYS VERY CONSTANT, WHICH,

AGAIN, ALLOWS YOU TO FOCUS

VERY PRECISELY OVER A LARGE

TEMPERATURE GRADIENT.

THIS MAY SEEM LIKE A MINOR

DETAIL, BUT IT'S CRUCIAL

FOR SPACE TELESCOPES.

OUTSIDE OF THE EARTH'S

ATMOSPHERE, TEMPERATURES CAN

SWING AS MUCH AS 300 DEGREES

IN A MATTER OF SECONDS,

AND TELESCOPE GLASS SIMPLY

CANNOT AFFORD TO CRACK.

ONCE THE CORNING GLASS

COMPONENTS ARE FINISHED IN

CANTON, THEY'LL BE SENT HERE

TO EXELIS IN ROCHESTER,

NEW YORK, WHERE THEY WILL BE

POLISHED AND FINISHED AND

FITTED FOR THE ASTRO-1

TELESCOPE.

WE CAN PRODUCE VERY CLEAR

IMAGES FROM SPACE.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE

PRODUCE 99% OF ALL THE OPTICS

THAT TAKE PICTURES FROM SPACE,

BOTH LOOKING AT THE EARTH

AND LOOKING OUT INTO SPACE.

EXELIS HAS 50 YEARS OF

EXPERIENCE BUILDING SPACE

TELESCOPES, LIKE THIS

PROTOTYPE OF A SATELLITE

BUILT FOR DIGITAL GLOBE

EARLIER THIS YEAR.

ONCE THEY RECEIVE THE

LIGHTWEIGHTED GLASS COMPONENTS

FROM CANTON, THEY'LL BE COATED

WITH A LIGHT REFLECTIVE

MATERIAL, LIKE ALUMINUM,

AND THEN MOUNTED INTO THE

MIDDLE OF THE TELESCOPE

AS ITS PRIMARY MIRROR.

EXELIS WILL THEN PRODUCE A

SECONDARY MIRROR THAT WILL SIT

BEHIND THE PRIMARY MIRROR AND

SFTRANSFER COLLECTED LIGHT ONTO

AN INSTRUMENT'S SCREEN.

THE MIRRORS WILL BE HELD IN

PLACE WITH A HIGHLY STABLE

COMPOSITE KEEPING THE ENTIRE

STRUCTURE AS LIGHT

AS POSSIBLE.

THE BENEFIT FOR THAT IS THE

SPACECRAFT CAN THEN PUT THAT

LOWER MASS OR THAT LOWER

WEIGHT FARTHER INTO SPACE,

AND IT ALSO ALLOWS

THE MISSION TO LAST LONGER

BECAUSE NOT AS MUCH FUEL

IS REQUIRED TO MANEUVER

IT ONCE IT'S IN PLACE.

ONCE COMPLETED, ASTRO-1

WILL BE SENT MONILLION MILES

INTO SPACE TO COLLECT IMAGES,

LIKE DARK MATTER.

THE ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT IT

COLLECTS WILL HELP DETERMINE

HOW FAST AN OBJECT IS MOVING,

WHAT IT'S MADE OF,

AND DETERMINE ITS

TEMPERATURE AND DENSITY.

WE WILL ALSO BE ABLE

TO INVESTIGATE EXOPLANETS

AROUND NEARBY STARS.

OUR OFF-AXIS DESIGN IS WHAT

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT

FOR AT LEAST 15 YEARS ABOUT

WHAT IS NEEDED TO MAKE REALLY

CLEAN STELLAR IMAGES.

MORSE SAYS ASTRO-1 WILL

ACTUALLY HELP THE ASTRONOMICAL

COMMUNITY TAKE ON SPACE

FRONTIER PROJECTS

WITH PRIVATE FUNDING.

THE ASTRO-1 TELESCOPE WOULDN'T

TAKE THE PLACE BUT SIMPLY

BUILD ON THE LEGACY OF HUBBLE.

BUT DESPITE CORNING'S

$1.8 MILLION GLASS DONATION

AND PRIVATE FUND-RAISING,

THE TELESCOPE PROJECT ISN'T

ANYWHERE NEAR COMPLETION.

MORSE SAYS THE ENTIRE ASTRO-1

PROJECT WILL LIKELY COST

HALF A BILLION DOLLARS

AND WON'T GET OFF THE GROUND

UNTIL 2025 AT THE EARLIEST.

QUEST FOR NEW WORLDS BY

VISITING BoldlyGo.ORG.