Advanced mirror technology development (AMTD) project: 2.5 year status

Abstract

The Advance Mirror Technology Development (AMTD) project is in Phase 2 of a multiyear effort, initiated in FY12, to mature by at least a half TRL step six critical technologies required to enable 4 meter or larger UVOIR space telescope primary mirror assemblies for both general astrophysics and ultra-high contrast observations of exoplanets. AMTD continues to achieve all of its goals and accomplished all of its milestones to date. We have done this by assembling an outstanding team from academia, industry, and government with extensive expertise in astrophysics and exoplanet characterization, and in the design/manufacture of monolithic and segmented space telescopes; by deriving engineering specifications for advanced normal-incidence mirror systems needed to make the required science measurements; and by defining and prioritizing the most important technical problems to be solved.

Habitable-Zone Exoplanet Observatory baseline 4-m telescope: systems-engineering design process and predicted structural thermal optical performance

“…Furthermore, the design team improved the Astrophysics Division's funded technology development to design and fabricate a 4-m-class ultrastable UVOIR PM (e.g., Advanced Mirror Technology Development, AMTD, project and Predictive Thermal Control Study, PTCS). [24][25][26][27][28] The baseline HabEx design is a monolithic 4-m ZERODUR ® open-back iso-grid mirror. An alternative design is a ULE © closed-back hex-core mirror.…”

“…To make thicker mirrors, the AMTD project successfully demonstrated a stack and seal process by manufacturing a 40-cm-thick test mirror. 27,28,49 For ZERODUR ® , Schott has demonstrated 42-cm-thick substrates and they are working to produce 45-cm-thick mirrors. 35 Other design elements that impact stiffness include: face-sheet thickness; whether not the back of the mirror is open, closed, or partially closed and thickness of the back-sheet; and geometry of the core structure (i.e., iso-grid, rectilinear-grid, or hex-grid), pocket size, core wall thickness, etc.…”

Finding the UV–Visible Path Forward: Proceedings of the Community Workshop to Plan the Future of UV/Visible Space Astrophysics

“…A primary goal of this effort is to demonstrate to NASA and the science community the absolute need to explore alternate architectures to mitigate costs, adapt to new technologies, and better integrate into future in-space assembly and servicing. The space observatory environment has changed substantially over the past decades: both positively, such as advances in mirror and wavefront control technologies (e.g., Stahl et al 2014) and a growing in-space operations capability; and negatively, as budgets have been greatly reduced. The big question is how we can use the significant investments in technology over the past 10-15 years, to create a larger aperture, more productive space telescope at less cost.…”

Overview and accomplishments of advanced mirror technology development phase 2 (AMTD-2) project

“…Additionally, we successfully demonstrated the fine stage of a two-stage actuator that can be used to align a monolithic mirror or co-phase a segmented mirror. 6  Integrated Model Validation: We developed a new opto-mechanical design and modeling tool which creates point designs of monolithic and segmented primary mirrors > 10X faster than commercial tools and facilitates transfer of a high-resolution mesh to various mechanical and thermal analysis tools. We conducted trade studies for 4-m and 8-m mirror systems; created and validated models to predict gravity sag and 2C thermal gradients; defined and started implemented a systems analysis framework that combines simulation results from multiple engineering disciplines to predict on-orbit optical performance.…”