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Goddard Space Flight Center

Astrophysics Science Division | Sciences and Exploration

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Servicing Mission 3B: SM3B Discussion Board: General Discussion: Pictures of Earth?

KennyGEvans

||||| Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 12:19 am

Would it be possible for the HST to take Hi-res pictures of the Earth? If so do we (the US Government)and for what purposes? It could prove invaluable for intelligence gathering efforts. And what, if any program will replace the HST at the end of its operational life?

Dave

||||| Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 01:05 am

There are a few things about HST that make it useless for taking pictures of the Earth. If you take a look at the Hubble FAQ, there's a section at the end about why HST can't take pictures of stuff on the Moon -- and the tracking and brightness problems are even worse for the Earth. As for replacing HST, the next observatory in space will be NGST.