Politics

Spy Agency Gives NASA Telescopes More Powerful Than Hubble

By Matt Vasilogambros and National Journal
May 12, 2011: The dwarf galaxy NGC 4214 is ablaze with young stars and gas clouds. Located around 10 million light-years away in the constellation of Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs), the galaxy's close proximity, combined with the wide variety of evolutionary stages among the stars, make it an ideal laboratory to research the triggers of star formation and evolution. This color image was taken using the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 in December 2009. (National Journal)
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The National Reconnaissance Office, a U.S. spy agency, has given NASA two military spy telescopes that have a field of view 100 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope, The Washington Post reports.

The gift could be a boost to the financially strained space agency that is six years from launching its own telescope.

The two military telescopes never left the ground and have been in storage in New York. Although they are "space qualified," as NASA put it, they are a long way from being ready for use.