Hoyle Full Spectrum Orbital Telescope

This is a full spectrum telescope orbiting Sol at the Earth L2 Lagrange point. It was named for Sir Fred Hoyle. The Hoyle telescope is comprised of four 5.5m optical telescopes flying in formation, a 100m radio telescope and high energy (X-ray and Gamma ray), ultra-violet (UV), infrared (IR) and far infrared (FIR) sensor arrays. It had an optical resolution of .0001" (arcseconds). It was the first orbital observatory capable of capturing radiation from high energy extremely short wavelengths to extremely long wavelengths of ELF radio. This made possible the simultaneous confirmation of a variety of astronomical phenomena.

The orbital observatory was a joint project of the European and United States of America Space Agencies as part of the NASA Origins mission. Development began in 2006 CE and the Terrestrial Planet Finder observatory became fully operational September 11, 2012 CE with the far infra-red array completing the operational timetable in 2016 CE. The Hoyle opened areas of investigation that were more thoroughly pursued by the Queloz-Mayor Array a decade later. (see – NASA Origins I Planetary Survey)

Some controversy arose at the time over the selection of the name for the telescope. Sir Fred Hoyle was a proponent of the steady-state model of the universe; and derisively coined the term Big Bang for a cosmic theory with which he did not agree. British proponents on the European Space Agency (ESO) argued that Hoyle, as the proponent of the theory that earliest forms of life found their way to Earth through space on comets, should have his name associated with the search for extraterrestrial life in the Universe.