The polishing phase is now complete for the TAO primary mirror. Our team will move on towards acceptance testing through various optical measurement systems (deflectometry and interferometry) to ensure the mirror meets its specification.
The TAO primary mirror is now ready for its first polishing run.
The TAO primary mirror has now completed the grinding phase. The polishing phase is projected to begin early next week.
The TAO primary mirror has just begun the grinding phase through the use of our 6.5 meter Swing Arm CCP (Computer Controlled Polisher). Before beginning a grinding run the CCP completed an air polishing run to verify the machines operation was safe.
The vacuum lifting fixture was used to move the TAO mirror from its mirror cell provided by the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab (RFCML) to integrate into the mirror support in preparation for grinding.
The TAO mirror support load cell calibration is now complete. The passive mirror support ensures that the TAO mirror is supported properly during the grinding and polishing phases of the mirror.
On Sept. 8, 2016, OSIRIS-REx lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on a ULA Atlas V rocket to begin its seven-year mission to sample an asteroid. The largest of the three cameras on board, Polycam, was assembled and verified in the Optical Engineering Fabrication Facility (OEFF) Clean Room.
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The TAO 6.5 meter primary mirror has been moved from the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab (RFCML) to the Optical Sciences Center (COS) Optical Engineering and Fabrication Facility (OEFF).
The DKIST primary mirror has finished the polishing phase. Through acceptance testing the DKIST surface figure is 16.9 nm RMS over 4m diameter with extreme smoothness on an extremely high aspheric surface.
The DKIST primary mirror sees its first grinding run with the Optical Engineering Fabrication Facility (OEFF) first 12 Axis Computer Controlled Polisher (CCP) featuring two polishing heads: a passive lap and a stressed lap.