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.