ATM 8" in space, Hubble vs. interferometer

[Peter Abrahams <telscope@europa.com>]

>I might argue that you might have very much to gain IF 
>you put up a number of smaller scopes which can be used 
>as an interferometer. I know its being done for radio, 
>but no idea where this stands for optical.

There is a group at NASA & JPL, perhaps including even the leaders at NASA,
who feel that to improve on Hubble, it would be more efficient to send up
small telescopes, interferometrically linked, rather than a single larger
telescope.  The "Space Technology 3" mission is not quite finally approved
yet (I think), but it is well on the way.  The "Space Interferometer
Mission" is a more advanced instrument.  They can fly two spacecraft, 1 km
apart, and maintain spacing to one centimeter.  They use active optics to
align the optics to a fraction of a wavelength.  The technology has been
proved in the lab, but not yet in space.

http://sim.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://spacetechnology3.jpl.nasa.gov/tech/index.html
http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/sbobs.html
_______________________________________
Peter Abrahams   telscope@europa.com