Dynamic testing of primary mirror segment supports for the Extremely Large Telescope

The preparations for the design and construction of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) are in full swing. One of the most critical components of this enormous telescope is its segmented primary mirror (M1), for which Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), in collaboration with VDL, has designed the mechanical segment...

Electromagnetic deformable mirror for space applications

To increase the collecting power and to improve the angular imaging resolution, space telescopes are evolving towards larger primary mirrors. The aerial density of the telescope mirrors needs to be kept low, however, to be compatible with the launch requirements. A light-weight (primary) mirror will introduce additional optical aberrations to...

Primary mirror control for large segmented telescopes: Combining high performance with robustness

Future large telescopes, such as E-ELT and TMT, will need feedback control of the thousands of actuators underneath their segmented primary mirrors (M1). Differences in actuator dynamics and spatially and temporally changing disturbances make it extremely diffcult to formulate classical controllers which are both suffciently robust and highly...

Meeting highest performance requirements for lowest price and mass for the M1 segment support unit for E-ELT

The largest optical telescope in the world will be the E-ELT. Its primary mirror will be 42m in diameter. This mirror will consist of 984 hexagonal segments that are all individually supported. Each mirror will be controlled in six DOF while local shaping of the segments is provided by so called warping harnesses. These will correct for focus,...