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From: mike@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Mike Smithwick)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Cost of telescope storage?
Message-ID: <41776@ames.arc.nasa.gov>
Date: 31 Jan 90 17:30:08 GMT
References: <162.UUL1.3#5131@mvac23.UUCP> <1990Jan28.010857.19425@utzoo.uucp> <31080@prls.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Organization: NASA - Ames Research Center
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In article <31080@prls.UUCP> gordon@prls.UUCP (Gordon Vickers) writes:
<In article <1990Jan28.010857.19425@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
<  ( in reply to a previous article by another    -gpv)
<>
<>Basically, it was designed for space (occasional micrometeorites, the
<>barest wisp of atmosphere, lots of sunlight) and not for Earth (thick
<>wet air with all kinds of icky things drifting and/or flying in it).
<>NASA is understandably paranoid about contaminating the optics with,
<>well, almost anything.  They cost a *bundle*.
<>-- 
<
<        I have a freind involved with this project and have heard him
<   talk about the high cost of maintaining the clean room so the
<   optics won't get contaminated.
<
<        What makes me laugh is it is only a class 10,000 clean room 
<   ( maximum allowed contamination 10,000 parts per million) !  For
<   such a wonderfull telescope, I think its a real shame their contamination
<   standards are so lax.  In this day and age, a class 1000 clean room
<   isn't difficult to acheive ; class 10 requiring state of the art.
<
< 

Ahhh! But it is not just an ordinary class 10,000 clean room. Our 
ST Tour Guide made it clear that this was by far the largest 
clean room in its class. Afterall, not only is this thing big enough
to hold the HST (vertically), but it looked like it was big enough
to hold 3 HSTs, not to mention all of the support equipment.



                                                      *** mike smithwick ***

"Never trust a surgeon with shaving cuts. . ."
[disclaimer : nope, I don't work for NASA, I take full blame for my ideas]