this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2024
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Astronomy
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What's more likely to happen is Starship’s will be launched where the entire ship becomes the telescope, and then we'll have arrays of these much further away.
Not sure if it's the same for radio, but for optical that means we can get a 9 meter mirror up there without any expensive folding mechanism, and who knows how big if we fold them as the fairing is not only wider but also longer.
Cost would go from billions to hundreds of millions or less. James Webb cost 10b.
The James Webb folding mirror is 6.5m and was folded into a 4.5m fairing...