Development and testing of an actively controlled large-aperture Cassegrain Telescope for spacecraft deployment

Bradley G. Boone; Jonathan R. Bruzzi; Bernard E. Kluga; Eric W. Rogala; R. D. Hale; Peter C. Chen

doi:10.1117/12.552240

12 October 2004 Development and testing of an actively controlled large-aperture Cassegrain Telescope for spacecraft deployment

Bradley G. Boone, Jonathan R. Bruzzi, Bernard E. Kluga, Eric W. Rogala, R. D. Hale, Peter C. Chen

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5487, Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Space Telescopes; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552240
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is planning future deep space missions requiring space-based imaging reconnaissance of planets and recovery of imagery from these missions via optical communications. Both applications have similar requirements that can be met by a common aperture. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in collaboration with commercial and academic partners is developing a new approach to deploying and controlling large aperture (meter-class) optical telescopes on spacecraft that can be rapidly launched and deployed. The deployment mechanism uses flexible longeron struts to deploy the secondary. The active control system uses a fiber-coupled laser array near the focal plane that reflects four collimated laser beams off of the periphery of the secondary to four equally-disposed quad cell sensors at the periphery of the primary to correct secondary-to-primary misalignments and enable motion compensation. We describe a compensation technique that uses tip/tilt and piston actuators for quasi-static bias correction and dynamic motion compensation. We also describe preliminary optical tests using a commercial Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope in lieu of an ultra-lightweight composite Cassegrain, which is under development by Composite Mirror Applications, Inc. Finite element and ray trace modeling results for a 40 cm composite telescope design will also be described.

Citation Download Citation

Bradley G. Boone, Jonathan R. Bruzzi, Bernard E. Kluga, Eric W. Rogala, R. D. Hale, and Peter C. Chen "Development and testing of an actively controlled large-aperture Cassegrain Telescope for spacecraft deployment", Proc. SPIE 5487, Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Space Telescopes, (12 October 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552240

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