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To: ckilmer

Alignment would be difficult, but it's a wonderful idea.


4 posted on 10/01/2004 9:09:50 PM PDT by hyperpoly8 (Illegitimati Non Carborundum)
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To: hyperpoly8

Good point about the alignment problem too. We would have to have two mechanisms in space, not worrying about diffraction limits or light scattering effects you would have to keep these things in perfect alignment. Here is a paragraph from Space Telescope Science Institutes website describing the stability of the Hubble Telescope;

"Telescope stability: Hubble is the most precisely pointed
machine ever devised for astronomy. Its requirements for
pointing stability and pointing accuracy are expressed in
terms of multiple-zero decimals. The telescope must be able
to maintain lock on a target for 24 hours without deviating
more than 7/1,000ths (0.007) of an arc second (2 millionths
of a degree) which is about the width of a human hair seen at a
distance of a mile. A laser with the stability and precision
of the Hubble, mounted on top of the United States
Capitol could hold a steady beam on a dime suspended over
the World Trade Center in New York, over 200 miles distant.
This level of stability and precision is comparable to sinking
a hole-in-one on a Los Angeles golf course from a tee in
Washington, DC, over 2,000 miles away, in 19 out of 20 attempts."

I think looking at this device as a "giant pinhole camera" would be an enormous oversimplification of the technology involved to actually achieve a working device.


21 posted on 10/01/2004 10:05:29 PM PDT by Shellback Chuck (Olongapo hookers are more truthful than Kerry)
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