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It is highly unlikely that you can see a coin on the ground from LEO, given the size of the telescope and the laws of physics[1].

Assuming a great number of things, a larger than Hubble 3 meter aperture, 200km orbit, red 750nm light, zero atmospheric distortion, the resolving power cannot be better than 6.1 centimeter resolution.

tan(750e-9/31.22)200000

= 0.061

If you want the best possible example of NRO's capabilities, the best example in recent memory is when trump unintentionally disclosed them with the highest resolution satellite image I personally have ever seen [2]

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_resolution

[2] https://www.npr.org/2019/09/05/758038714/can-president-trump...



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