this post was submitted on 17 May 2024
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Private mission to save the Hubble Space Telescope raises concerns, NASA emails show (www.npr.org)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/space
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[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I suspect there's some NSA/NRO/CIA concerns too.

It seems the Hubble is only one-of-a-kind in that it looks out at the universe - the chassis wasn't unique. The NSA donated an unused chassis to NASA several years ago.

If the NSA had an "unused Hubble chassis", how many were made, and what are the others doing?

So it seems Hubble is the public-facing science side of an NSA/NRO/CIA effort.

[โ€“] wjrii 7 points 8 months ago (3 children)

If the NSA had an โ€œunused Hubble chassisโ€, how many were made, and what are the others doing?

It's secret, but not THAT secret, since it requires sending Hubble-sized telescopes into orbit. Looks like there are 6 of that design still in operation.

[โ€“] jqubed 4 points 8 months ago

Reminds me of this old What if? from XKCD

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Wow, I didn't realize they'd launched almost 20 of them over the years...

[โ€“] wjrii 4 points 8 months ago

Why build one when you can build ~~two~~ twenty at ~~twice~~ twenty times the price!

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Oh hey, thanks for the link!

I knew of Keyhole, but didn't realize they were Hubble chassis.