NASA Langley Research Center, Composite Optics, Inc., and Nyma/ADF have developed jointly a deployable primary mirror for space telescopes that combines over five years of research on deployment of optical-precision structures and over ten years of development of fabrication techniques for optical-precision composite mirror panels and structures. The deployable mirror is directly applicable to a broad class of non-imaging `lidar' (light direction and ranging) telescopes whose figure-error requirements are in the range of one to ten microns RMS. Furthermore, the mirror design can be readily modified to accommodate imaging-quality reflector panels and active panel-alignment control mechanisms for application to imaging telescopes. The present paper: (1) describes the deployable mirror concept; (2) explains the status of the mirror development; and (3) provides some technical specifications for a 2.55-m- diameter, proof-of-concept mirror.

Date Published: 29 October 1999
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 3785, Advanced Telescope Design, Fabrication, and Control, (29 October 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.367611

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3785:
Advanced Telescope Design, Fabrication, and Control
William Roybal, Editor(s)