[HairOfTheDog]

I thought spy satellites could read license plates from orbit. Why not the other way around? (This sounds like ass-covering to me.)

You think he is lying to you about whether spy satellites could look at the shuttle? The same lens that could read a license plate on the earth's surface would not necessarily be able to turn and focus on something that is much closer. They are designed for specific tasks.

[alancarp]

Here's the real problem with spy satellites - or the Hubble telescope, for that matter: The shuttle is moving - at 17,000 MPH in orbit. Nothing we have in orbit that has a camera is designed to track objects at anything near that speed.

HERE'S MY QUESTION FOR NASA: Which came first: the heating elevations or the flight control corrections that continued to a degree unprecedented in the program? I haven't heard that on the timeline discussions.

[Amelia]

The same lens that could read a license plate on the earth's surface would not necessarily be able to turn and focus on something that is much closer.

Kind of like my eyes after I turned 40.....

[r9etb]

You think he is lying to you about whether spy satellites could look at the shuttle? The same lens that could read a license plate on the earth's surface would not necessarily be able to turn and focus on something that is much closer. They are designed for specific tasks.

It's possible to look at other satellites from orbit, but the task is daunting.

First, the distances are measured in thousands of miles (as opposed to hundreds of miles for ground objects).

Second, the relative speeds are incredible -- 35,000 mph or so -- which leads to a requirement for very high rate rotations, coupled with very precise pointing during the rotation. Even spy satellites generally aren't designed to do both of these things at the same time.

The likelihood of getting a recognizable picture is slim, and the likelihood of getting a damage assessment is vanishingly small.

A better argument might be made for attempting a ground-based observation, but that, too, probably wouldn't have given a good enough picture, unless the damage was extensive.