In 1990, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched on its tenth flight, carrying the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT) for nine days. During this time, the telescope imaged difficult-to-detect cosmic rays, logging over 50 hours of observation. Decades later, the US Space Shuttle program is dead, replaced by Russian and private-sector ships. The BBXRT, however, has survived, and now a Virginia surplus company has posted it for sale on eBay for $7 million.
Space Shuttle Columbia’s telescope for sale on eBay
The Broad Band X-Ray Telescope, which flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1990, is being sold for $7 million through eBay.
The Broad Band X-Ray Telescope, which flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1990, is being sold for $7 million through eBay.
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
We can’t be sure that the telescope is genuine, but the seller is impeccably reviewed, and previous NASA artifacts have been sold as surplus before. If you want to buy it, you’ll have to find a place to put the 840kg (nearly 1-ton) telescope, but at least shipping is free. Although 80 people have already put in bids for the telescope over the past year (the first offer was made in January of 2011), it’s still available for the discerning space geek — unfortunately, we can’t vouch for its operational capacity.
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