spacetoday.net: NRO gives NASA two space telescopes

Posted: Tue, Jun 5, 2012, 5:56 AM ET (0956 GMT)
Hubble Space Telescope (NASA)

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has given NASA two telescopes originally designed for reconnaissance satellites that the space agency believes could be repurposed for astronomy missions. The two telescopes, each with mirrors 2.4 meters in diameter, the same as Hubble, were built as spares for spy satellites not flown and are no longer needed by NRO. NASA is considering using one of the telescopes for a mission called the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) to study dark energy. WFIRST is a mission identified by astronomers as their top priority large mission for the current decade, but is one that NASA lacks the funding to develop. The transfer of the telescopes was made with little fanfare by either NRO or NASA, with the announcement made at a meeting of an astronomy committee in Washington.