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I am quite relieved that all the deployment worked out and so looking forward to the first images. I hope, planning for a true Hubble successor (a telescope in
by _ph_ 5y ago
I am quite relieved that all the deployment worked out and so looking forward to the first images. I hope, planning for a true Hubble successor (a telescope in the visual range) starts soon. Maybe a one-off Starship could be the telescope housing, it would enable an 8m mirror without any folding, just the tip of the Starship would open up once in orbit.
- spookthesunset 5y agoWhy not go for a much larger folding mirror?
- _ph_ 5y agoPrice, simplicity. 8m mirror size would equal some of the largest telescopes currently on the ground. A lost of cost could be saved, if the whole teslescope could be completely assembled on ground. Later iterations could have larger mirrors, but just having a Hubble replacement with modern cameras would be a huge step, having a 4x larger mirror will be magnificient enough.