I believe it was the NIH factor

Space/Science » in reply to Is that why the Hubble's mirror was shaped wrong?

Gary — 9/8/2004 5:39:28 AM (archived)

N.I.H. = Not Invented Here

Supposably the original mirror shape error was due to some simple operator error. However the failure to catch the error was due to the N.I.H. factor. Urban legend has it the Air Force offered NASA their optical checkout facilities used for the KH-11 satellites but NASA declined (a classified facility?) Also NASA supposably had a backup mirror made by Kodak that was correctly shaped. However NASA launched Hubble with the Perkin-Elmer mirror while the Kodak mirror remained on Earth.

Gary

The whole thread (11 posts)

What's the focal length of a KH-12 reconnaissance satellite? - Lee - 9/7/2004 5:03:02 AM
- re: What's the focal length of a KH-12 reconnaissance satellite? - Nick Hoffman - 9/7/2004 11:12:40 AM
  - KH-11 and KH-12 used the same shipping container as Hubble - Gary - 9/7/2004 3:53:14 PM
    - That would be a problem. - Lee - 9/7/2004 6:27:30 PM
      - re: That would be a problem. - Larry J - 9/7/2004 9:00:06 PM
        
        Corrections and comments - Gary - 9/8/2004 4:36:42 AM
        
        Is that why the Hubble's mirror was shaped wrong? - Lee - 9/8/2004 5:26:32 AM
        
        I believe it was the NIH factor - Gary - 9/8/2004 5:39:28 AM
        
        Ranks up there with the standard/metric conversion screwup on the MCO. (n/t) - Lee - 9/8/2004 5:46:14 AM
        
        Thanks Larry. - Lee - 9/8/2004 1:12:24 AM
        
        re: FAS write up - E.P. Grondine - 9/8/2004 12:55:12 AM

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