Putting the New NASA Telescope to Work

Do you remember the story about those two telescopes the National Reconnaissance Office provided to NASA earlier this year?  Well, NASA issued a request for information (RFI) on Monday to determine how to use them in "innovative and imaginative" ways. 

NASA's Michael Moore, a senior program executive, stated the potential uses can "...range from simple balloon flights to complex missions in science using new technologies under development and the capabilities available with the International Space Station and our commercial space flight partners."

If you have any ideas, you have until January 7, 2013, to submit them to NASA.  The RFI allows only four pages for your idea, so do not be too wordy.  The submissions will be discussed at a 2-day workshop on February 5 and 6, 2013, in Huntsville, AL, with a final report on these proceedings to be finalized May 2013.

Another Space Program with Spare Parts for NASA

Earlier I noted how the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) already has its own space shuttle program and maybe more sharing of resources could assist NASA.  Well, I forgot that DoD is just one of a number of federal agencies with its own space program.  For instance, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), one of our spy agencies, runs its own satellite and telescope missions as well, though these telescopes peer back onto Earth.  And now it appears that some inter-agency sharing is underway.

The Washington Post reported that two left-over NRO telescopes sitting in Rochester, NY, will go to NASA.  Both telescopes are as large as the Hubble space telescope though they have a much wider field of view.  In fact, the telescopes may be better than the current Hubble telescope, and potentially meet the needs of the now stalled Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). WFIRST's goals are exoplanet exploration, dark energy research, and galactic and extragalactic surveys.

The problem is that NASA will have to make a number of modifications to make them useful, and the funding problems at the Agency will make such modifications difficult.  NASA astrophysics director Paul Hertz said the new telescopes are unlikely to be launched before 2024, noting “Any dates earlier, like 2019 or 2020, is if money is no object,” Hertz said. 

While Congress continues to starve our space programs, it is nice to learn federal agencies are communicating.  This is not the same as having one national space program, but it is better than nothing.