The fabrication of TMT’s primary mirror segments at Coherent Inc. in California continues to progress well. To date, a total of 19 M1 polished roundels have been delivered to TMT’s secure warehouse facility for storage.
The coating chamber that will provide the required highly reflective thin and uniform coating to both TMT’s Secondary and Tertiary Mirrors (M2 and M3, respectively) recently passed its conceptual design review. The conceptual design and scope of the Secondary and Tertiary Mirrors Coating Facility (M2M3 COAT) was executed and developed by India TMT Coordination Centre (ITCC), via contract with Hind High Vacuum (HHV) headquartered in Bengaluru,...
The successful production of TMT polished glass-ceramic (M1 roundels) is ramping up according to plan.
The production of TMT’s primary mirrors in North America is progressing very well. Several polished glass-ceramic roundels are currently in production at the Coherent manufacturing facilities; three were recently finished and shipped to the TMT storage facility in the Bay Area.
The TMT Laser Guide Star Facility (LGSF) has successfully completed the first phase of its Preliminary Design Review (PDR1). The LGSF will be responsible for generating artificial laser guide stars that will be used with TMT’s Adaptive Optics (AO) systems, including NFIRAOS, the Observatory’s first-light AO facility.
The optical metrology and test set for TMT’s primary mirror segments has arrived at its warehouse in California. It was sent by Arizona Optical Systems (AOS) in Tucson, Arizona, on May 11 and arrived safely the day after at the TMT storage facility after a 500-mile journey. All fabrication and test tooling for the complete metrology system were also included in the freight.
The handling equipment for TMT primary mirror (M1) segment recently passed its Preliminary Design Review. The custom-designed equipment and tooling will be used to safely handle mirrors within the observatory during operational activities.
TIO recently celebrated the completion of another eight newly polished roundels produced for the TMT primary mirror by Canon in Japan. The TIO and NAOJ teams responsible for the mirror polishing held a face-to-face meeting virtually on April 27, 2021 to confirm that the polishing results met the demanding requirements for these parts.
TMT and Coherent reached a new milestone this month with the completion of the first two roundels for TMT’s Primary Mirror (M1). Coherent precisely contoured and polished the optical surfaces of the roundels under the direction of TIO. They are the first of 231 roundels Coherent will provide for the TMT primary mirror array, nearly half of the total of 492 required to complete the telescope.
TMT, in partnership with Larson Packaging Company, recently celebrated the successful design and completion of TMT’s Primary Mirror Assembly Shipping Container (PMASC). The shipping container will enclose and protect TMT’s primary mirror segments during transport and storage between their international destinations.
