A space telescope that could weigh 100 times less than the Hubble Space Telescope but still have a gigantic aperture for collecting light is now under development at Lockheed Martin.
Under a contract with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), engineers will study a telescope concept that will rely on a low-mass membrane to reflect light within an aperture 50 to 82 feet (15 to 25 meters) in diameter. (Hubble's aperture is 8.2 feet -- 2.5 meters -- across).
The telescope concept is called DART, for Dual Anamorphic Reflector Telescope.
"We are very excited about working with Dr. Mark Dragovan, the developer of the DART concept, and Art Chmielewski, both of JPL, on this revolutionary technology for space applications in which Lockheed Martin has been involved," Domenick Tenerelli, Lockheed Martin project director for the DART study, said in a prepared statement.
"Our past and present efforts on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) and the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) provide an experience base that complements the vision and advanced space technology development of JPL."
Hubble has been orbiting Earth since 1990 and has returned infrared and visible light images of the universe that have stunned astronomers and moved the field forward significantly. SIM and SIRTF are future NASA space telescopes.
The DART system under study consists of two parabolic, cylindrical trough-shaped reflectors oriented with respect to each other to produce a point focus. Since each reflector contains only a single simple curve, the mirrors can be formed by tensioning a reflective foil over a frame that has a parabolic contour along one axis. The use of an extremely low-mass membrane for the reflective surfaces would significantly reduce the weight (and mass) of the telescope.
In traditional telescope architectures, the larger the aperture desired, the greater is the mass required for the optics support structure. Because the DART architecture uses a thin membrane for its reflectors, the density of the mirror does not increase with aperture size.
Historically, the lower the mass of an observatory, the lower its cost and the number of launch vehicles required to put multiple telescope systems in orbit.
The new membrane technology could enable very-large-aperture space observatories to be placed in orbit at modest cost, such as proposed projects like the Single Aperture Far Infrared (SAFIR) facility, Life Finder and Planet Imager.
The telescope study contract comes under NASA's New Millennium Program, created in 1994, to identify, develop and flight-validate advanced technologies that can lower costs and enable critical performance of science missions in the 21st century.
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