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A comment on NASA can't figure out what's causing computer issues on the Hubble telescope. Parent comment

Re:NASA can't figure out what's causing computer issues on t... by perl4ever on Thursday June 24, 2021 @11:45PM (#27626940)
What's mindboggling to me is the sheer number of spy satellites that were more or less each equivalent to Hubble.

There are estimated to have been something like seventeen of the KH-11 satellites, each one of which cost something like 2/3s of a Nimitz class aircraft carrier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KH-11_Kennen

And there are an unknown number of its successor, but probably at least 3, where they updated it for stealth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_(satellite)

It feels like a parallel universe where what is a technical struggle and tour de force here, is churned out by the dozens.

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Re:NASA can't figure out what's causing computer issues on t... by slipframe on Friday June 25, 2021 @12:15AM (#27627095)
Hubble was botched initially, they had to send astronauts up to fix it before they could get usable images out of it. I wonder what the success rate for those spy satellites was. Maybe some of them were replacements for others, replaced instead of repaired?
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Re:NASA can't figure out what's causing computer issues on t... by wmf on Friday June 25, 2021 @12:40AM (#27627205)
If you go back a little more, they used to launch one or two film-based disposable spy satellites per month.
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