Mike Clements a man from Utah built his own reflection telescope that is the largest ever made by a non-chartered scientific group. Built out of metal framing, with a 70 inch mirror, the structure stands 35 feet tall and the mirror weighs 900 pounds on its own. He bought the mirror that had originally been designed to be used on a spy satellite, but as a result of an accidental chip on the edge, allowed him to purchase it. He has always been fascinated with telescopes and Clements says "I've always had bad vision, and telescopes have been like a prosthesis for me." Many find it hard to believe that Clements spends 8 to 9 hours a day in a truck driving for Central Refrigerated Services, but Clements says that the time alone allows him to think in quiet and formulate ideas for telescope designs. Such a feat was attempted in the 1990s by a group of amateur astronomers but they failed due to lack of funding, but Clements has invested heavily in the project for the past 18 months, which he has dreamed of for 15 years. Such a leap in availability of materials that would allow for an amateur to build the telescope show immense developments in scientific availability.

Link to original article:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/UT-man-builds-largest-amateur-telescope-on-record-4944350.php#photo-5397399