Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Additive Manufactured Very Light Weight Diamond Turned Aspheric Mirror
Project Description
The innovation proposed is a method for the fabrication of a very low cost, very light weight large apertureAl10SiMg aluminum alloy mirror by the combination of three manufacturing processes. 1. Additivelymanufactured mirror substrates as demonstrated in previous Phase 1 NASA SBIR S2.03-9125 with 0.2 mmcontour accuracy. 2. Precision robotic welding of hexagonal on-axis and hexagonal off-axis segments to produce a larger mirror. 3. Large capacity diamond turning can produce any desired mirror aspheric contourto visible tolerances on the monolithic large mirror.
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Anticipated Benefits
Extremely light weight medium aperture off-axis three mirror anastigmat (TMA) mirror optical components, collimator and telescope optical instruments. Extremely lightweight large off-axis mirrors for unobscured optical collimators and telescopes. On-axis hexagonal segments and off-axis hexagonal aspheric optical mirrors can be assembled to enable very large telescopes.
Defense applications requiring mirror optical components for satellites and aerospace vehicles. Non-military applications such as weather satellite optical mirrors and commercial telescope optics. Commercial applications requiring light weight stiff optical components such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment. More »
Defense applications requiring mirror optical components for satellites and aerospace vehicles. Non-military applications such as weather satellite optical mirrors and commercial telescope optics. Commercial applications requiring light weight stiff optical components such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment. More »
Project Library
Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Optical Systems, Inc. | Lead Organization |
Industry
Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB)
|
Rockwall, Texas |
Marshall Space Flight Center
(MSFC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Huntsville, Alabama |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Alabama
-
Texas
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