[FPSPACE] FW: NASA SCIENTISTS PIONEER METHOD FOR MAKING GIANT LUNAR TELESCOPES

[LARRY KLAES]

>From: "Campion, Edward S. (GSFC-130.0)" <edward.s.campion at nasa.gov>
>Reply-To: "Campion, Edward S. (GSFC-130.0)" <edward.s.campion at nasa.gov>
>To: <gsfc_news at listserv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
>Subject: NASA SCIENTISTS PIONEER METHOD FOR MAKING GIANT LUNAR TELESCOPES
>Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:38:21 -0500
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>Rob Gutro                                                                   
>            June 4, 2008, 10:30 a.m. EDT
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>Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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>301-286-4044
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>Robert.J.Gutro at nasa.gov <mailto:Edward.S.Campion at nasa.gov>
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>PRESS RELEASE: 08-54
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>NASA SCIENTISTS PIONEER METHOD FOR MAKING GIANT LUNAR TELESCOPES
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>GREENBELT, Md. - Scientists working at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 
>in Greenbelt, Md., have concocted an innovative recipe for giant telescope 
>mirrors on the Moon. To make a mirror that dwarfs anything on Earth, just 
>take a little bit of carbon, throw in some epoxy, and add lots of lunar 
>dust.
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>"We could make huge telescopes on the moon relatively easily, and avoid the 
>large expense of transporting a large mirror from Earth," says Peter Chen 
>of NASA Goddard and the Catholic University of America, which is located in 
>Washington, D.C. "Since most of the materials are already there in the form 
>of dust, you don't have to bring very much stuff with you, and that saves a 
>ton of money."
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>Chen and his Goddard colleagues Douglas Rabin, Michael Van Steenberg, and 
>Ron Oliversen are presenting their mirror-making technique in a poster at 
>the 212th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in St. Louis, Mo. 
>They will also describe their results in a press conference on Wednesday, 
>June 4 at 9:30 a.m. CDT.
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>For years, Chen had been working with carbon-fiber composite materials to 
>produce high-quality telescope mirrors. But Chen and his colleagues decided 
>to try an experiment. They substituted carbon nanotubes (tiny tubular 
>structures made of pure carbon) for the carbon-fiber composites. When they 
>mixed small amounts of carbon nanotubes and epoxies (glue-like materials) 
>with crushed rock that has the same composition and grain size as lunar 
>dust, they discovered to their surprise that they had created a very strong 
>material with the consistency of concrete. This material can be used 
>instead of glass to make mirrors.
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>They next applied additional layers of epoxy and spun the material at room 
>temperature. The result was a 12-inch-wide mirror blank with the parabolic 
>shape of a telescope mirror. All of this was achieved with minimal effort 
>and cost.
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>"After that, all we needed to do was coat the mirror blank with a small 
>amount of aluminum, and voilà, we had a highly reflective telescope 
>mirror," says Rabin. "Our method could be scaled-up on the moon, using the 
>ubiquitous lunar dust, to create giant telescope mirrors up to 50 meters in 
>diameter." Such an observatory would dwarf the largest optical telescope in 
>the world right now: the 10.4-meter Gran Telescopio Canarias in the Canary 
>Islands.
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>The capabilities of a 50-meter telescope on the Moon boggle the 
>imagination,
>according to NASA. With a stable platform, and no atmosphere to absorb or 
>blur starlight, the monster scope could record the spectra of extra solar 
>terrestrial planets and detect atmospheric biomarkers such as ozone and 
>methane. Two or more such telescopes spanning the surface of the Moon can 
>work together to take direct images of Earth-like planets around nearby 
>stars and look for brightness variations that come from oceans and 
>continents. Among many other projects, it could make detailed observations 
>of galaxies at various distances, to see how the universe evolved.
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>"Constructing giant telescopes provides a strong rationale for doing 
>astronomy from the moon," says Chen. "We could also use this on-site 
>composite material to build habitats for the astronauts, and mirrors to 
>collect sunlight for solar-power farms."
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>Chen notes that his group achieved this breakthrough with only the support 
>of small NASA internal seed funds. The carbon nanotubes were contributed by 
>Dan Powell, Lead Nanotechnologist for NASA Goddard. Several amateur 
>astronomers made key contributions by advising and making special epoxy 
>formulations, helping with polishing experiments, and vacuum coating the 
>12-inch mirror.
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>For related images to this story, please visit on the Web:
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>http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2008/lunar_telescopes.html 
><https://mail01.ndc.nasa.gov/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2008/lunar_telescopes.html>
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