Abstract
Future space telescopes rely on advances in technology to enable fabrication of primary mirrors with orders of magnitude more area, yet similar mass as current mirrors. This requires a shift of paradigm from the concept of the mirror as a rigid, stable unit, to the idea of the mirror as a system that uses active control to maintain the figure of a flexible surface. We discuss issues for this new class of optics and present status on a 2-m prototype mirror for NGST.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 640-648 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
| Volume | 4013 |
| State | Published - 2000 |
| Event | UV, Optical, and IR Space Telescopes and Instruments - Munich, Ger Duration: Mar 29 2000 → Mar 31 2000 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering