[X] My Assistant

[Paolo Amoroso]

Back in the early 1980s I read somewhere, possibly in Sky & Telescope, about the Amateur Space Telescope project. I sent an inquiry and got back some copies of a brochure. I still have them somewhere, but so far I was unable to find them.

The project, run by a group of Troy University (New York) students named Independent Space Research Group, also with international members, called for building a 50 cm space telescope with auxiliary equipment such as cameras and a photometer. It was expected to have a resolution of 0.02". It was to be launched in 1985 by a Shuttle flight and operated by amateur astronomers. Images would have been received with some sort of antenna/radio equipment connected to a TV set. The project was funded by donations and private money.

Since I never heard about the project later, I assume it failed. But I always wondered why. Technological issues? Funding? Or maybe the digital revolution in amateur astronomy imaging made it largely obsolete?


Paolo Amoroso

[Del Palmer]

It was expected to have a resolution of 0.02".

A resolution of 20 milliarcsecs?! No wonder the project failed -- their expectations were set a little too high.