Truckdriver builds world's largest amateur telescope using 900 pound mirror originally meant for Cold War spy satellite

Clements bought the 900-pound mirror — which was originally destined to go into space as part of a spy satellite until the edge of it was chipped during its manufacture — after it was auctioned off.

He picked it up in 2005, knowing it would help him fulfill his dream of building a huge telescope. Many people told him the shape wouldn't work, and that it would distort the view, but he said he couldn't pass it up.

'I've been interested in telescopes my whole life. I've always had bad vision, and telescopes have been almost like a prosthesis for me. I've always been obsessed with astronomy and planets and building things.

People told me there's a limit you reach and then the pros have to do it, and people told me this mirror would never work, but I just had to have that mirror,' said the 51-year-old, whose excitement over the project is barely contained in his breathless, pauseless sentences.

Impressive: Mike Clements stand with his homemade 70-inch telescope in Herriman, Utah. While the primary mirror is 70 inches, the black metal structure itself stands about 35 feet tall, supporting a secondary mirror that is 29 inches

According to plan: While the primary mirror is 70 inches, the black metal structure itself stands about 35 feet tall, supporting a secondary mirror that is 29 inches, which makes it one of the biggest telescopes created by an amateur astronomer

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