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The US actually built at least 9 Hubble Space Telescopes, they're just not called that: they're called Keyhole surveillance satellites. The size and shape of t
by XorNot 4y ago
The US actually built at least 9 Hubble Space Telescopes, they're just not called that: they're called Keyhole surveillance satellites.
The size and shape of the Hubble is directly influenced by those satellites, and in particular the surprisingly cheap main mirror optics provided you built a mirror of exactly a particular size that it would turn out there was a very experienced and equipped facility in the US for building.
- usrusr 4y agoIn that case it's the opposite though: science taking an almost free ride on the coattails of spending that was originally budgeted as military.
- brutusborn 4y agoIt is very possible that the research and development cost was much larger than the production cost of the duplicates. In this way the scientific funding is still being used to ‘hide’ defence funding. Externally it looks like most of the money went to science applications but that science was necessary for the production of the non-Hubble telescopes.
- sgt 4y agoWhat kind of resolution would these have, being pointed at the surface of the Earth in optimal conditions? Enough to identify someone viewed at an angle?