SBIR/STTR
Manufacture of Monolithic Telescope with a Freeform Surface, Phase I
Project Introduction
Monolithic freeform telescopes offer the potential to positively address the size, weight and vibration concerns associated with flight telescope systems. We propose to prove feasibility that our optics manufacturing process is capable of producing of a freeform optical telescope system by manufacturing and testing four optical surfaces on four sides of a single high purity optical material. The resulting working monolithic telescope will include a high precision freeform surface. The capability of in adding of a freeform surface in a monolithic optical telescope design offers flexibility to create more compact designs, larger fields of view, and better-performing unobscured systems.
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Anticipated Benefits
Potential NASA Commercial Applications: Exo-planet imaging systems -- The search for exo-planets by direct imaging require telescope systems that have a high angular resolution and low diffraction scattering. Since these exo-planets are many orders of magnitude less bright than there companion star the contrast (even when using focal plane masks) must be very high. Exo-planet imaging systems also require minimal scattering due to mid-spatial frequency errors on their primary and secondary mirrors. The specification for the Jovian planet finder optical system was less than 1 nm rms in the 4 – 50 cycles/aperture range10. Cube and Nano-cube optical payloads -- CubeSats are very small satellites built to a standard dimension. The cube-shaped satellites are approximately four inches long, have a volume of about one quart and weigh about 3 pounds. These small satellites can be launched by a common deployment system. The low-cost and small size allows universities, companies, government agencies access to space-borne systems. Monolithic optical systems fit with this need to keep payloads simple, compact, and rugged.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
Goddard Space Flight Center
(GSFC)
|
Lead Organization | NASA Center | Greenbelt, MD |
| Optimax Systems, Inc. | Supporting Organization | Industry | Ontario, NY |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
New York
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Organizational Responsibility
Responsible Mission Directorate:
- Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
Lead Center / Facility:
- Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
Responsible Program:
- SBIR/STTR
Project Management
Program Director:
Program Manager:
Principal Investigator:
- Todd Blalock
Project Duration
Start: Jun 2015
End: Dec 2015
Technology Maturity (TRL)
| Start: | 3 |
| Current: | 3 |
| Estimated End: | 3 |
Applied Research
Development
Demo & Test
Technology Areas
Primary:
- TA 12 Materials, Structures, Mechanical Systems and Manufacturing
- TA 12.4 Manufacturing
- TA 12.4.3 Electronics and Optics Manufacturing Process
Other / Cross-cutting:
- TA 8 Science Instruments, Observatories, and Sensor Systems
- TA 8.1 Remote Sensing Instruments and Sensors
- TA 8.1.3 Optical Components