[lutorm]

But what I'm saying is the public can just get a 200mm telescope on the ground themselves. No need to launch it into space.

[brianobush]

I live in Portland, Oregon. Every time we wanted to use a telescope to see some planetary wonder it has been cloudy. Hard to keep my kids excited about space without seeing much of it :)

[mapt]

You can rent time on a telescope in another hemisphere and timezone right now, over the Internet.

[oscilloscope]

Atmospheric interference makes it impossible to observe in some wavelengths on the ground.