PROJECT TITLE : Lightweight Carbon Fiber Composite Mirror Fabrication Using Advanced Core Technology
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Plans for the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), as well as many other large optical instruments, require larger, lightweight, thermally stable optics than currently exist. As the requirements for greater resolution and light gathering ability increase, so do the aperture and weight of an optical sensor. It is proposed that a mirror constructed with carbon fiber reinforced cyanate ester facesheets and core can meet all of these requirements. The facesheets and core must be designed using very high modulus, thin facesheets, and a stable and uniform core structure. It will be demonstrated that a micro thin, secondarily replicated metal surface over a facesheet less than 0.060" thick and a core structure consisting of less than 0.010" thick laminated CFRP that has been segmented and cellularized will weigh less than 6 kg/m2 and remain stable with negligible core print through over a wide temperature range.POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Lightweight, thermally stable optics for aircraft and satellite sensors.NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
HAROLD R. CLARKNAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR
COMPOSITE OPTICS, INCORPORATED
9617 DISTRIBUTION AVENUE
SAN DIEGO, CA 92121
COMPOSITE OPTICS, INCORPORATED
9617 DISTRIBUTION AVENUE
SAN DIEGO, CA 92121