Telescope Characteristics and Capabilities
In early 2011, NASA was given access to residual hardware (shown as drawings below) that could form the basis of a space based observatory. This equipment has the potential to greatly reduce the cost of a major facility. It consists of 2 sets of space qualified telescope hardware with a 2.4 meter f/1.2, lightweight ULE primary mirror configured in an f/8 system with < 20% Obstructed Aperture. The unvignetted field of view is approximately 1.80 Diameter and the wavefront quality is less than 60 nm rms. The system is designed for actuated secondary mirror positioning. See the materials below for more details on this hardware.
- Telescope Description
- 2.4m Space Telescopes: Hardware Summary, September 4, 2012,ITT EXELIS
- Michael Moore Presentation to the Princeton Astrophysics Community Meeting, September 4, 2012
- Astrophysics: New Telescope Assets
- Exploring the NRO Opportunity for a Hubble-Sized Near-IR Space Telescope – New WFIRST