January's launch of the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRS) put an imaging infrared telescope in space. Its subsequent performance gives after-the-fact justification for the choice of beryllium as the material for optics and structure. In this paper, we examine the IRAS pre-flight test data to uncover the causes for the projected diffraction limit of ten micrometers and we will show that there is reason to project a considerably shorter practical wavelength limit for future applications such as Shuttle Infrared Telescope (SIRTF).

Date Published: 22 September 1983
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 0414, Optical Engineering for Cold Environments, (22 September 1983); doi: 10.1117/12.935889

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0414:
Optical Engineering for Cold Environments
George W. Aitken, Editor(s)