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Advanced Mirror Technology Development (AMTD) Thermal Trade StudiesAdvanced Mirror Technology Development (AMTD) is being done at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in preparation for the next large aperture UVOIR space observatory. A key science mission of that observatory is the detection and characterization of 'Earth-like' exoplanets. Direct exoplanet observation requires a telescope to see a planet which will be 10(exp -10) times dimmer than its host star. To accomplish this using an internal coronagraph requires a telescope with an ultra-stable wavefront error (WFE). This paper investigates parametric relationships between primary mirror physical parameters and thermal WFE stability. Candidate mirrors are designed as a mesh and placed into a thermal analysis model to determine the temperature distribution in the mirror when it is placed inside of an actively controlled cylindrical shroud at Lagrange point 2. Thermal strains resulting from the temperature distribution are found and an estimation of WFE is found to characterize the effect that thermal inputs have on the optical quality of the mirror. This process is repeated for several mirror material properties, material types, and mirror designs to determine how to design a mirror for thermal stability.
Document ID
20150019495
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Brooks, Thomas
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
October 20, 2015
Publication Date
August 9, 2015
Subject Category
Optics
Report/Patent Number
M15-4427
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2015 SPIE Optics & Photonics Conference
Location: San Diego, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: August 9, 2015
End Date: August 13, 2015
Sponsors: International Society for Optical Engineering
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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