400 years of Galileo’s Telescope

August 25 marks exactly 400 years since Galileo’s telescope invention. (Yes this is Google’s doodle of the day.) Galileo Galilei’s invention allowed for much of the astronomical discoveries made today. Galileo was not only a known astronomer but also a mathematician, physisct, and philospher. (Yes, he was one smart dude!) Since the invention of the telescope, much of space discovery and solar system have been made possible. With the technology to identify much of the stars and universe around us, Galileo’s telescope has been a great help.

Current program in the telescope world: Nasa is currently lacking the funding to build the telescope that may protect us from possible deadly asteroids that will strike the Earth. Galileo’s relatively cheap invention has lead to relatively expensive and highly sophisticated telescopes that could save Earth from the asteroids. What was yesterdays one dollar telescope invented looks like todays cost of 300 million dollars. Just take a look at this article on Wired.com.