Being given two 'Hubbles' is a problem for NASA

[Smivs]

One of NASA's more unpredictable problems for sure! They are a gift from the shadowy National Reconnaissance Office and are in storage and there is no obvious funding for them. So it seems that NASA are a bit unsure how to deal with this windfall.

[Greyth]

Ah, the replicators must be back online I wonder if they'll test these ones before launching them..

[Selezen]

Money money money.

If every Elite/Oolite fan donated a dollar, would they be able to fly the telescopes?

[Commander McLane]

Money money money.

If every Elite/Oolite fan donated a dollar, would they be able to fly the telescopes?

Or what if the military donated a dollar or two? They had enough money to build two of the things (as opposed to—say—NASA), so they obviously can't be short on cash.

[CommRLock78]

Money money money.

If every Elite/Oolite fan donated a dollar, would they be able to fly the telescopes?

Or what if the military donated a dollar or two? They had enough money to build two of the things (as opposed to—say—NASA), so they obviously can't be short on cash.

Agreed CML - $#%&# the military. They've got money to spend out the wahzoo - let them donate a couple bucks.

[Tricky]

The military could launch the telescopes. Saves NASA some more money.

(Yes I know NASA is a military operation run as a public entity)

[DaddyHoggy]

Could they put the two telescopes in diametrically opposed geostationary orbit? They could take stereoscopic images of the sky then. (The Sky at Night - now in 3D!)

[Disembodied]

The Hubble binoculars?

[Commander McLane]

The Hubble binoculars?

[Greyth]

Sad truth is these units are obsolete in that it is now possible to use an array of small digital scopes placed further apart somewhat like the ocular arrangements of insects. Theoretically it would be possible to cheaply create a scope with a dish many hundreds of miles across. Makes one wonder what the military use these days.

http://www.seti.org/ata

[Cody]

Seeing mention of SETI... someone is now actively searching for Dyson Spheres.

[JensAyton]

Sad truth is these units are obsolete in that it is now possible to use an array of small digital scopes placed further apart somewhat like the ocular arrangements of insects. Theoretically it would be possible to cheaply create a scope with a dish many hundreds of miles across. Makes one wonder what the military use these days.

http://www.seti.org/ata

Single-dish optical telescopes (like Hubble) are by no means obsolete. Several ground-based telescopes in the 30–40-metre range (using segmented mirrors) are currently projected, such as the [wp]European Extremely Large Telescope[/wp] (replacing the cancelled 100-metre Overwhelmingly Large Telescope). These cost over a billion Euros each – almost as much as the first two stages of the  SKA, the biggest telescope anyone’s seriously considered building – so we’re not talking about toys. And, of course, most of the science budget Nasa does have is going to the infra-red [wp]James Webb Space Telescope[/wp].

On the other hand, the fact that we can build 40-metre telescopes on the ground and use adaptive optics to make it worthwhile means that space-based optical telescopes are less interesting now than they were in the seventies.

[Commander McLane]

Single-dish optical telescopes (like Hubble) are by no means obsolete. Several ground-based telescopes in the 30–40-metre range (using segmented mirrors) are currently projected, such as the [wp]European Extremely Large Telescope[/wp] (replacing the cancelled 100-metre Overwhelmingly Large Telescope). These cost over a billion Euros each

Seems odd that the OLT was cancelled due to its costs, considering that it costs just one-and-a-half times as much as the EELT. Or is there a serious underestimation (at least an order of magnitude worth) in its calculation?

[JensAyton]

Seems odd that the OLT was cancelled due to its costs, considering that it costs just one-and-a-half times as much as the EELT.

Half a billion one way or another over ten years isn’t much for, say, a military budget, but we’re talking about a science budget that’s been hashed out over several years by fifteen different parliaments. You’ll note the E-ELT itself has been downsized to three quarters of its initial size. If we’re lucky, it will still be bigger than one of those Keyhole satellites by the time it’s actually built. ;-)

[Greyth]

Well, o.k. Ahruman - dishes are still in service and some are still on the board - so obsolete was, perhaps, a poor choice of word. Nevertheless a virtual disk makes all other dishes obsolete by dint of performance and hideously expensive by comparison to convention scopes. By putting them in space the size of the dish is almost without limits and even planet bound arrays can form dishes many miles wide for a fraction of the cost.