Balloon-borne 3-meter telescope for far-infrared and submillimeter astronomy

The gimbal design was studied and revised to eliminate the alignment and limited rotation problems inherent in the flex-pivot design. A new design using ball-bearings to replace the flex-pivot was defined and its performance analyzed. An error analysis for the entire gondola pointing system was also prepared. Mirror development and the test program using mirror test blanks from Dornier were continued.