Hubble Orbit

For the past years, space has not only become the battlefield of few countries, such as the US and Russia. Other countries have joined the race also like China, India, Japan, UAE, and many more.

China, in particular, is making its moves towards improving its technology to better study the universe. They have launched rockets and sent probes to Mars.

Now, they are planning to send a space telescope that is comparable to the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched in the low-Earth orbit in 1990. They plan to launch the said telescope in 2024 that will co-orbit with their space station.

6 hours ago  #ThrowBackToday: The gorgeous pictures Hubble telescope relays back since it was launched into Earth's orbit three decades ago In today's #TBT, we tell you about the Hubble Space Telescope and why its Instagram account is the one you should ardently follow. Also, Suez Canal's construction began today! Here's all about it. Hubble is in orbit around Earth at an altitude of about 545 kilometres and its orbit is inclined with respect to the Earth’s equator at angle of about 28.5 degrees. It zooms along in its orbit at a. The Hubble team was surprised to find that the remote world has an extreme orbit that is very misaligned, elongated and external to the debris disk that surrounds the exoplanet's twin host stars. On April 25, 1990, the HST was deployed by the space shuttle Discovery at an altitude of just over 600km. In fact, this was about the extent of the shuttle’s reach.

China's Space Telescope: Xuntian

China prepares to send a large space telescope named the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST) or Xuntian, which literally translates as 'survey to heavens.'

It has an impressive size with a diameter lens that measures 6.6 feet (2 meters), making it comparable to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Moreover, Xuntian boasts a 300 times greater field of view than the 31-year-old space telescope while also retaining a similar resolution. That means the wide field of view will allow the Asian country to observe 40% of the sky for more than ten years using a large 2.5 billion pixel camera, Health Thorough Fare reported under their Science category.

China's human spaceflight program chief engineer Zhou Jianping told China Central Television in March that Xuntian will be set up in an optical module that will independently fly in orbit to assist space probe.

How Fast Does The Hubble Orbit The Earth

'Meanwhile, we will make it fly approximately in common orbit with the future space station. This will help us refuel the telescope and carry out in-orbit upgrade[s] for it, so as to always keep it on the level of an international frontier,' he added.

This is better than repairing the Hubble, which requires several missions to repair, upgrade and replace the telescope's components.

Xinhua Net reported that four astronomy research facilities on the ground are being built across the Asian country to analyze the data that will be sent back by the space telescope.

ALSO READ: Moon Exploration: Why China and Russia are Teaming Up for a Lunar Base

Xuntian's Mission

According to a 2019 paper from members of the National Astronomical Observatories (NAOC) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xuntian's mission includes observing near UV and visible light, as well as investigating the properties of dark matter and dark energy, the cosmos, and galaxy formation, and evolution.

Space.com reported that Xuntian would also be expected to detect and survey trans-Neptunian objects and near-Earth asteroids.

Moreover, Chinese astronauts are undergoing intense training for future crewed missions that will construct the Chinese space station. The country aims to have 11 launches between 2021 and 2022, including four crewed missions for the construction phase.

Tianhe's core medium, which means 'Harmony of the Heavens,' is scheduled to be launched this month based on the Long March 5 preparations.

RELATED ARTICLE: Space Race: China to Launch New Space Station; Trains Astronauts for Crewed Flights

Hubble Orbiting Earth

Check out more news and information on Space on Science Times.

This animation, taken from Hubblecast 78: Dr J Q&A part 1, shows the speed at which Hubble orbits the Earth and the approximate location of its orbit.

Hubble is in orbit around Earth at an altitude of about 545 kilometres and its orbit is inclined with respect to the Earth’s equator at angle of about 28.5 degrees.

It zooms along in its orbit at a speed of 28 000 kilometres per hour, meaning that it completes an entire orbit in just under 97 minutes. In other words, Hubble circles the Earth almost 15 times every day!

Martin Kornmesser, Luis Calcada, NASA, ESA/Hubble

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