ANCHORAGE, Alaska A pair of space telescopes that were donated to NASA from the secretive National Reconnaissance Office could be repurposed for a wide variety of science missions, NASA officials say, but it will likely be years before the agency's budget can accommodate them.

The two spy satellite telescopes were originally built for planned NRO space-based surveillance missions, but they were never used. Earlier this month, on June 4, NASA announced its acquisition of the telescopes, and the agency's intention to use them for future astronomical research.

"About a year ago, NASA was contacted this was long before I came onboard saying they had some residual hardware that might be interesting to NASA," said John Grunsfeld, the associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "Folks did take a look at it. Unfortunately, it was classified at that time, so it took a while for the National Reconnaissance Office to declassify it and figure out what the right approach is."

Grunsfeld co-hosted a town hall-style gathering Tuesday to discuss NASA's budget and plans here at the 220th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

The two telescopes have main mirrors that measure nearly 8 feet wide (2.4 meters), making them comparable to the veteran Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched into orbit 22 years ago. Grunsfeld called the donated optical hardware "very high quality."

"From the preliminary looks, this is a gift that, I think, we're going to really appreciate in the future," he added.

More space news from msnbc.com

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Wanna do some space science? You no longer have to be a professional researcher, or even a grown-up, to get your experiment into orbit.

The telescopes are currently being stored in Rochester, N.Y., in facilities belonging to the hardware's manufacturer, ITT Exelis Geospatial Systems. The cost to keep them in storage is about $70,000 a year, Grunsfeld said. [ Photos: Declassified U.S. Spy Satellites ]

"It's not insignificant, but it's not something that's unmanageable," he said.

See more here:

NASA: What to do with gift spy telescopes?