Allen Thomson wrote:

Rusty wrote:

The original Multiple Mirror Telescope (built in Arizona in 1979) had
six surplus 72-inch mirrors that were supplied by the U.S. Air Force.
The six mirrors were replaced by a single 6.5 meter mirror in 2002.

Yes, that possibility occurred to me. The MMT blanks were, according
to the UL current at the time, left over from the KH-8 program. Maybe
that's what the current story is confused about.

I've gotten from two people at the MMT Observatory that the original
mirrors were the ones not used for MOL. Was its camera the KH-8?
Come to think of it, I never did hear what the did with the 6
when replaced by one 6.5-m primary. "Free to good home, prefer to
keep family together..."

Bill Keel