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03/28/2024 09:37:17 pm

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NASA’s Space Telescope To Be The Largest Telescope Ever Created

Palomar Observatory Telescope

(Photo : Getty Images/Sandy Huffaker) NASA astronomers are already planning their biggest project to collect more information about the many celestial bodies in the outer space — the High-Definition Space Telescope.

NASA astronomers are already planning their biggest project to collect more information about the many celestial bodies in the outer space. As per a new proposal by the American astronomers, they have outlined their plan of building the biggest telescope ever created in the entire history of astronomy - the High-Definition Space Telescope.

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The High-Definition Space Telescope could be the most ambitious instrument of NASA thus far, given that it is going to be five times as big as the Hubble Space Telescope. which was launched way back in 1990, according to Newsweek.

The astronomers highlighted in their proposal that the HD Space Telescope is going to come with a 12-meter mirror of 400 feet diameter to ensure that the device would be 100 times more powerful than the Hubble. With this magnification, space scientists hope to study more the atmospheres - weather and surfaces - of several planets orbiting distant suns that are millions of miles away from Earth.

The HD Space Telescope is still in the early phase of the development stage as the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) is currently doing preliminary research for its possible design, The Space Reporter has learned.

"Life is almost certainly out there somewhere beyond the surface of the Earth... The proposed telescope will be able to detect signatures of life on planets outside our own Solar System, and begin to address the issue of whether life is ubiquitous," read the afterword of the space scientists' proposal.

if the proposal gets to approval of NASA, the Congress will fund the creation of the HD Space Telescope, which reportedly costs $10 billion. The new telescope will most likely be launched in the 2030s.

"When we imagine the landscape of astronomy in the decade of 2030, we realize it is at last within our grasp to make a monumental discovery that will change mankind forever. We hope to learn whether or not we are alone in the universe," AURA President Matt Mountain said. 

Apart from creating the largest space telescope ever, astronomers are also looking forward to using the HD Space Telescope in finding sufficient evidence that could prove the existence of life beyond the living planet Earth, Techie News reports. 

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