Linear Formation Interferometry for Astrophysics and New Space Technologies

该项目将制作一种新型的可见光和红外光干涉测量法的原型：望远镜在一条10米长的直线上自由移动，并将其光线引向中央光束组合器。这特别适合于从太空进行的稀疏孔径光学干涉测量，它可以用来分辨比世界上最大的单片望远镜精细得多的角度尺度。地面原型还将能够对基准恒星和恒星系统进行几次关键的天体物理观测，包括对明亮恒星周围的尘埃壳进行精确的偏振测量。

This project will prototype a new type of visible and infrared light interferometry: telescopes freely moving in a line 10s of metres in length and directing their light towards a central beam combiner. This is particularly well suited to sparse aperture optical interferometry from space, which can be used to resolve angular scales much finer than the world's largest monolithic telescopes. The ground based prototype will also be able to make a several key astrophysical observations of benchmark stars and stellar systems, including making precise polarimetric measurements of dust shells around bright stars.