51吃瓜Pro

First Two TMT Mirror Segment Demonstrators Installed at the Monrovia lab.

 

Two full-size TMT Primary Segment demonstration assemblies fitted with aluminum mirror segments have been successfully installed  into the Multi-Segment Integration & Test (MSIT) facility at the TMT lab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The prototypes are positioned in tip, tilt and piston and aligned with a gap of 2.5 mm between the segment edges at the optical surface, in exactly the same way that the primary mirrors will be installed on the telescope.

 

The newly-installed production-like segment assemblies will be used to perform extensive testing and design validation.

One of the immediate efforts will be to test the performance of the capacitive edge-sensor dust-boots, which are used to protect their sensitive hardware and electronics from the environment.

 

In addition, they will support the on-going development of equipment and procedures that will be used in the insertion, extraction, handling and maintenance of the segments and their associated systems over the lifetime of the telescope.