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From: butler@stsci.EDU (Lee A. Butler)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Hubble Space Telescope goes Recon
Summary: Not feasible
Message-ID: <1991Apr29.051348.5008@amd.com>
Date: 25 Apr 91 00:38:31 GMT
References: <1991Apr23.053603.23229@amd.com>
Sender: military@amd.com
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218
Lines: 21
Approved: military@amd.com


From: butler@stsci.EDU (Lee A. Butler)


> From: "Egan H. Greenstein" <XBRX@VAX5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU>
> 
> A couple of months ago, I was reading a Tom Clancy-esque technomilitary
> novel whose name escapes me for the moment. (It's irrelevant, anyway.)
> In it, "they" use the Hubble Space Telescope as a recon satellite. My
> question is, IS THIS POSSIBLE???

Essentially, no.  The instrumentation on board HST would suffer damage from
looking at anything as bright as the earth/moon/sun.  A great deal of work has
gone into making sure that HST never points to any of these "bright" objects.

However, there is evidence that DoD is/was looking at flying a satellite
similar in optics to HST for recon purposes.  The resolving power and
light-gathering capability of a 3m mirror in low orbit is enough to make any
good intel agent drool.

Lee Butler		              butler@stsci.edu