The next generation of space astronomy will require even greater technological breakthroughs to produce telescopes of far lower areal density at far lower cost per square meter. Segmented mirrors, like those being used on the James Webb Space Telescope, are candidate designs for the ATLAST Program, having a primary mirror diameter of 8 to 16.8 meters. Advanced x-ray telescopes such as GenX, using nested Wolter Type 1 designs will require thousands of thin shell mirror segments produced by replication using convex mandrels. Scientific instruments aboard these telescope payloads will certainly include optical components and structures that will drive further advancements in manufacturing technology. The technical effort proposed here has clear potential to benefit these and other future space astronomy programs by improving the performance and lowering the cost of precision optical components.
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