A report proposes a design concept for synthesizing a reflecting telescope with a large-aperture (diameter ≈100 m) primary mirror from a sparse arrangement of four smaller (diameter ≈10 m) primary mirrors. The telescope would be placed in orbit for viewing Earth with high resolution. The primary and secondary mirrors would be mounted on a lightweight structure that would be deployed in orbit.
This work was done by Philip Moynihan of Caltech for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. To obtain a copy of the report, "Ultra-Sparse Aperture Concentrator with Full-Area Coverage," access the Technical Support Package (TSP) free on-line at www.nasatech.com/tsp under the Physical Sciences category.
NPO-21103
This Brief includes a Technical Support Package (TSP).
Large-Aperture Telescope Synthesized From Small Mirrors
(reference NPO-21103) is currently available for download from the TSP library.
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