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The 4-meter lunar engineering telescopeThe 16-meter diffraction limited lunar telescope incorporates a primary mirror with 312 one-meter segments; 3 nanometer active optics surface control with laser metrology and hexapod positioners; a space frame structure with one-millimeter stability; and a hexapod mount for pointing. The design data needed to limit risk in this development can be obtained by building a smaller engineering telescope on the moon with all of the features of the 16-meter design. This paper presents a 4.33-meter engineering telescope concept developed by the Summer 1990 Student Program of the NASA/JHU Space Grant Consortium Lunar Telescope Project. The primary mirror, made up of 18 one-meter hexagonal segments, is sized to provide interesting science as well as engineering data. The optics are configured as a Ritchey-Chretien with a coude relay to the focal plane beneath the surface. The optical path is continuously monitored with 3-nanometer precision interferometrically. An active optics processor and piezoelectric actuators operate to maintain the end-to-end optical configuration established by wave front sensing using a guide star. The mirror segments, consisting of a one-centimeter thick faceplate on 30-cm deep ribs, maintain the surface figure to a few nanometers under lunar gravity and thermal environment.
Document ID
19920062540
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Peacock, Keith
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Giannini, Judith A.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Kilgus, Charles C.
(Johns Hopkins University Laurel, MD, United States)
Bely, Pierre Y.
(Space Telescope Science Institute Baltimore, MD, United States)
May, B. Scott
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Cooper, Shannon A.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Schlimm, Gerard H.
(Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD, United States)
Sounder, Charles
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Ormond, Karen
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Cheek, Eric
(Morgan State University Baltimore, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1991
Subject Category
Astronomy
Meeting Information
Meeting: Space Astronomical Telescopes and Instruments
Location: Orlando, FL
Country: United States
Start Date: April 1, 1991
End Date: April 4, 1991
Sponsors: SPIE
Accession Number
92A45164
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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