NASA receives two military spy telescopes
JUN 05, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026083
Washington Post : The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), one of 16 US intelligence agencies, is giving NASA two telescopes, each as big and powerful as the Hubble Space Telescope. The NRO provided little information as to why it was relinquishing the telescopes, which were built some 20 years ago and never launched. Although NASA does not currently have money in the budget to use them, the telescopes could reduce the cost and shorten the timeline of a future mission. The gift was welcome news for the agency as it prepares for the planned demise of the Hubble, which will be decommissioned within the next few years.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
