This paper will review a recent NASA MSFC preliminary study that demonstrated the feasibility of launching a 6 to 8 meter class monolithic primary mirror telescope to Sun-Earth L2 using an Ares V. The study started with the unique capabilities of the Ares V vehicle and examined the feasibility of launching a large aperture low cost low risk telescope based on a conventional ground based glass primary mirror. Specific technical areas studied included optical design; structural design/analysis including primary mirror support structure, sun shade and secondary mirror support structure; thermal analysis; launch vehicle performance and trajectory; spacecraft including structure, propulsion, GN & C, avionics, power systems and reaction wheels; operations & servicing, mass budget and system cost. The study telescope was an on-axis three-mirror anastigmatic design with a fine steering mirror. The observatory has a 100 arc-minute (8.4 X 12 arc-minutes) of diffraction limited field of view at a wavelength les than 500 nm. The study assumed that the primary mirror would be fabricated from an existing Schott Zerodur residual VLT blank edged to 6.2 meters, 175 mm thick at the edge with a mass of 11,000 kg. The entire mass budget for the observatory including primary mirror, structure, light baffle tube, instruments, space craft, avionics, etc. is less than 40,000 kg - a 33% mass margin on the Ares V's 60,000 kg Sun-Earth L2 capability. An 8 meter class observatory would have a total mass of less than 60,000 kg of which the primary mirror is the largest contributor.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Design Study of an 8 Meter Monolithic Mirror UV/Optical Space Telescope


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    SPIE: Astronomical Instrumentation 2008 ; 2008 ; Marseille, France


    Publication date :

    2008-05-23


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English


    Keywords :




    An 8 Meter Monolithic UV/Optical Space Telescope

    Stahl, H. Philip / Postman, Marc | NTRS | 2008


    Design for an 8 Meter Monolithic UV/OIR Space Telescope

    Stahl, H. Philip / Postman, Marc / Hornsby, Linda et al. | NTRS | 2009


    ATLAST-8 Mission Concept Study for 8-Meter Monolithic UV/Optical Space Telescope

    H. P. Stahl / M. Postman / W. R. Arnold et al. | NTIS | 2010