Spherical Primary Optical Telescope (SPOT) Segment Fabrication

Abstract

The Spherical Primary Optical Telescope (SPOT) is a simplified large segmented telescope concept. At this time three, 35 inch diameter, hexagonal mirror blanks have been cast. The blanks are made of Pyrex. One mirror (segment) was figured at GSFC and final figured at QED using Magnetorheological Finishing. Two other segments are in process. The mirror tip, tilt, piston, and radius of curvature control assemblies are complete for Segment 1 and 2. Segment 2 was installed on a second generation support with enhanced stiffness and improved interfaces. Software is being written for the control assemblies. The test bed should be operational in Winter 2010.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 07, 2010
Accession Number
ADA536259

Entities

People

  • Bruce Dean
  • Jason Budinoff
  • John Hagopian

Organizations

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Assembly
  • Composite Materials
  • Curvature
  • Deformable Mirrors
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Fabrication
  • Flight
  • Information Operations
  • Material Forming Processes
  • Materials Processing
  • Mirrors
  • Polishing
  • Segmented
  • Space Flight
  • Telescopes
  • Test Beds

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computer Science.
  • Computer Vision.
  • Optical Fiber Sensing and Electromagnetic Propagation.

Technology Areas

  • Space