US ELT Program: GMT Design and Development

巨型麦哲伦望远镜(GMT)是将在智利建造的下一代“超大型望远镜”，预计在本世纪30年代中后期对南方天空进行首次观测。有了这个奖项，国家科学基金会将支持关键技术的开发，以确保望远镜获得尽可能清晰的图像。在格林威治标准时间的中心是七个直径8.4米的镜子。它们必须与安装在望远镜顶部的七个直径1米的小镜子对准。这种精确的对准或“阶段性”，需要对一系列尖端技术进行非常仔细的设计和测试。该奖项将支持这项关键的开发工作。该奖项还将支持一项劳动力发展计划和一项非正式教育计划的研究。GMT将根据德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校现有的德克萨斯天文学本科生研究经验计划(Taurus Program)计划一项暑期活动计划，该计划将针对代表不足的社区。与旧金山探索博物馆合作，GMT还将探索开发更适合不同观众的展品的新方法，这些想法可以用于未来的GMT巡回展览。该项目将侧重于三项具体的减少技术风险活动。主镜(M1)主动光学系统将通过在主镜测试单元中安装最近完成的M1段之一进行测试，以演示使用亚利桑那大学理查德·F·卡里斯镜面实验室的光学计量塔对镜面波前误差进行主动光学控制。该项目还将建造一个自适应次镜相位试验台(ASM PTB)，并将用它来演示ASM段的位置传感和控制。PTB将包括ASM第一篇文章的计量参考框架，并将确认位置传感器的性能。最后，该团队还将开发激光层析自适应光学波前传感器(LTWS)原型，以解决初步设计阶段确定的潜在设计风险特征，构建单通道Shack-Hartmann传感器原型，并测试传感器运动阶段和电缆缠绕设计概念的动态性能。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is a next-generation “extremely large telescope” that is to be built in Chile, with first observations of the southern skies anticipated in the mid-to-late 2030s. With this award, the National Science Foundation will support development of key technologies needed to ensure the telescope obtains the sharpest images possible. At the heart of the GMT are seven 8.4-meter diameter mirrors. These must be aligned with seven smaller mirrors, each 1-meter in diameter, mounted at the top of the telescope. This precise alignment, or “phasing”, requires very careful design and testing of a range of cutting-edge technologies. The award will support this crucial development work. The award will also support a workforce development program and research into an informal education program. GMT will plan a summer program of activities, based on the University of Texas at Austin’s existing Texas Astronomy Undergraduate Research Experience for Under-represented Students (TAURUS) Program, that will target underrepresented communities. Working with the San Francisco Exploratorium, GMT will also explore new ways of developing exhibits that are better suited to a diverse audience, ideas that could be used in a future travelling GMT exhibition. The project will focus on three specific technical risk-reduction activities. The primary mirror (M1) active optics system will be tested by installing one of the recently completed M1 segments in a Primary Mirror Test Cell, to demonstrate active optics control of the mirror surface wavefront error using the optical metrology tower at the University of Arizona’s Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab. The project will also build an Adaptive Secondary Mirror Phasing Testbed (ASM PTB) and will use this to demonstrate ASM segment position sensing and control. The PTB will include a metrology frame of reference for the ASM first article and will confirm position sensor performance. Finally, the team will also develop a Laser Tomography Adaptive Optics Wavefront Sensor (LTWS) prototype to address potential design risk features identified during the preliminary design phase, prototyping a single channel Shack-Hartmann Sensor, and testing the dynamic performance of the sensor motion stages and cable wrap design concepts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.