A Moon-Based Telescope
By Brittany Sauser
MIT Technology Review, June 11, 2008
Edited by Andy Ross
NASA scientists have found a way to turn moondust into large
large telescope mirrors. The scientists mixed carbon nanotubes and epoxies with
a crushed rock like lunar dust, then spun the mixture on a pottery wheel to
create a mirror blank with a parabolic shape.
Building a telescope mirror from a mixture that is 90 percent moondust means
transporting less material from Earth, so scientists can make a bigger
telescope, says Peter Chen, a scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center who is
working on the new method.
The power of a telescope is proportional to the size of its mirror. The James
Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled to succeed the Hubble telescope in
2013, will have a mirror 6 meters in diameter. Chen says the new method will
enable scientists to build lunar mirrors 50 meters in diameter.
The moon is an ideal spot for astronomy. "The moon has no atmosphere, which
means no blurring or absorption of starlight, and it provides a large, stable
platform," says Chen. The main difficulty on the moon is preventing precision
machinery from being jammed by dust or large daily temperature swings.
NASA scientists mixed carbon nanotubes, epoxies, and a crushed rock with the
same composition as lunar dust to created a strong material with the consistency
of concrete. Then they added another layer of epoxy and spun the material to
generate a 12-inch-wide mirror with the parabolic shape of a telescope mirror.
Standard industrial processes can then be applied to increase the optical
quality.
First, NASA has to get back to the moon.
AR Yes, NASA, get on with it.
