OPTICAL SCANNING USING ELECTRICALLY-MODULATED MEMBRANE MIRRORS

Abstract

The development of membrane mirrors is reported. The ultimate goal is to make available precision mirrors of very large aperture at substantially lower cost and weight than rigid mirrors. The usefulness of such mirrors for astronomical observation and for space-earth or space reconnaissance and tracking purposes is obvious. Due to the radically-different construction and lighter weight of membrane mirrors, their distortion due to thermal variations should be considerably less than that of comparable rigid mirrors. This offers the possibility of closer approach to diffraction-limited operation, particularly when large aperture and/or low F/number mirrors are considered. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1962
Accession Number
AD0277164

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Construction
  • Diffraction
  • Distortion
  • Membranes
  • Observation
  • Optical Scanning
  • Precision
  • Reconnaissance
  • Scanning

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Pavement Materials Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Space Objects