Today, the National Reconnaissance Office announced that they no longer needed two of their spy telescopes and were donating them, to of all things, science!
The two former spy telescopes are reportedly the same size as the Hubble with one major difference – both are even more powerful than the Hubble. The yet to be named telescopes, Telescope One and Telescope Two, both have mirrors that measure in at nearly 8-feet but unlike the Hubble have a secondary maneuverable mirror that allows better focus. Telescope One and Telescope Two have a 100-times greater field of view than the Hubble.
The new telescopes are almost ready to break our brains with their findings, but first NASA will need to outfit them with the necessary equipment: like cameras, spectrographs, and other space necessary instruments. Secondly NASA needs to find (read: finance) a mission for the new telescopes (hooray red tape!/s).
Still, the addition of the two new and very powerful telescopes will be a welcomed addition to space exploration. Since Hubble was read its last rites, Hubble will no longer be receiving any future maintenance and will eventually be de-orbited into the Pacific, Telescope One and Telescope Two are a welcomed upgrade to the scientific community.
Source: Washington Post
Woohoo!