Corning Inc. freely donates $1.8 million for an amazing space telescope project that is hoped to be launched into great action and service in the middle of the 2020s. BoldlyGo Institute, a non-profit unit, hopes that Astro-1 will be on space service by mid-2020s.
This fabulous project is well-supported by Corning Inc. as Jon Morse, the CEO of BoldlyGo Institute have observed. He said that this donation became a great step forwards in their efforts to raise for this highly expensive project. Corning’s donation was primarily used for the 6 feet diameter of the primary mirror of the said telescope.
Morse, a former director of astrophysics at NASA headquarters that Corning Inc. Has indeed made BoldlyGo to stay more active in seeking funds to sustain its higher technological innovative project that will even surpass the Hubble Space Telescope’s performance and durability for up to 10 times. He is hoping that this project won’t go beyond $1 billion and as he sees it, sources would mainly come from private funding to maintain the project’s proposed quality and integrity.
It can be recalled that BoldlyGo Institute was being founded just last year with its aim to increase space science missions with private funding. Astro-1 is expected to aid in the study of the Milky Way’s neighboring galaxies together with the planets that orbit around nearby stars. BoldlyGo Institute even hopes to sponsor unmanned mission to Mars.
On record, the $1.8M worth of components from Corning were actually intended for a certain NASA program. However, it was cancelled so Corning decided to use it for BoldlyGo Institute’s project. Corning Inc. is well-noted for its major contributions in various NASA projects including the primary mirror for the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station and the NASA’s manned spacecraft missions.
Michael Turner
