
I'm not sure if this is a big issue, but it seems to me like it
might be -- up till now, all >1g forces applied to the mirror and
its mounting (and nearly all =1g forces) have been applied along the
telescope's optical axis, and against the mirror's base.  Reentry
would apply forces along roughly the same axis, but tending to pull
the mirror away from the mount, and the landing would apply on-edge
forces to both the mirror and mount.  It could be that one or both
of these would not survive.

greg
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